Orthopedic Templating Accuracy Issues

Have you ever tried to pick the right wrench to loosen a bolt. First, you take a look at the bolt and then at the wrench assortment and guess which wrench is the magic wand. The odds are against even the best mechanic to get the right fit the first time, every time. Sometimes it’s not the right one and you still think it may be or it will still work and larger issues become apparent later when you have to readdress the situation. Now think what would happen if every time that you guessed the wrong wrench, you had to throw it in the waste bin and buy a new one.$$$
This was common practice for orthopedic surgeons before orthopedic templating software promised to make the process of pre surgical planning more accurate and efficient. If the surgeon misjudged the replacement, there was no putting it back into inventory. It gets added to the bill of sale. Even simple math adds up very quickly when you’re two or even three sizes off multiple times a day.$$$
So, those days are long gone right?
Well, not exactly…

Think of projecting a shadow puppet on the wall with a flashlight. The puppet on the wall can be much bigger than your hand actually is and it’s pretty much impossible that you could ever make it the same size.
X-rays are respective in the fact that the anatomy falls between the emitter and the receptor and is enlarged just like the shadow puppet on the wall. This is called a magnification factor and now that you are aware it exists, you need to know how to tell the orthopedic templating software what the exact value is. If the software does not take an accurate magnification factor into consideration, it has the potential to be even more inaccurate than the old school “wrench guessing method” because even guessing can be correct sometimes. Not having the software calculate a mag factor when there absolutely is one, will guarantee you to be inaccurate every single time. It can be compared to not having a legend on a map. The legend creates a scale factor so you know that a specified distance is proportionate on the map, or in our case, the x-ray image.
The good news is that J2 Medical is the best at putting the legend on the map and scaling the digital image so the templating software knows the exact size of the anatomy within the image. Now the orthopedic software can do it’s job accurately because the J2 Medical Akucal has made it possible. It’s the most important step in accurate orthopedic templating because it’s the first step.

The Akucal is the world’s best selling and patented scaling tool that is power packed with every feature needed to have highly accurate orthopedic replacement success in any situation.

Learn more about the Akucal at J2 Medical and inquire about trying a free demo unit by mentioning this post.