Cellumed Collaborates with Spine and Joint Specialty Hospital... "Introducing Independently Developed 3D Customized Artificial Joint PSI"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Cellumed announced on the 15th that Suwon Wills Memorial Hospital, a spine and joint specialty hospital, has introduced Cellumed's CT image-based 3D printing patient-specific instrumentation (PSI) for total knee arthroplasty.

Suwon Wills Memorial Hospital has been designated as a 'Spine Specialty Hospital' by the Ministry of Health and Welfare for four consecutive times. To be designated as a specialty hospital, it must meet requirements such as patient composition ratio, volume of medical services, essential medical departments, medical personnel, beds, quality of medical care, and level of medical services. Among the 16 spine specialty hospitals, Suwon Wills Memorial Hospital is the only one in Gyeonggi Province to have received this designation four times consecutively, drawing attention.

Degenerative arthritis, a common disease ranking first in incidence and prevalence, mostly affects middle-aged and elderly patients over their 50s. Recently, the incidence has increased among younger people in their 20s and 30s, making it a disease that all age groups, regardless of gender, need to be cautious about. Consequently, interest in the treatment and prevention of degenerative arthritis is rising.

Cellumed's patient-specific total knee arthroplasty (PSI) reconstructs each degenerative arthritis patient's knee CT images in 3D to biomechanically analyze the minimal bone resection and the optimal insertion position of the artificial knee implant. Based on this, applying it to actual surgery can shorten the surgical process and time.

Unlike general artificial joint surgery, this surgical method uses customized surgical tools made with a 3D printer to minimize the margin of error, resulting in high accuracy of lower limb alignment. Additionally, it has fewer side effects such as complications and shortens the rehabilitation time required after surgery.

Although patient-specific total knee arthroplasty using PSI is already commercialized in the United States and Europe, the domestic localization rate is very low, causing geographical and time constraints for applying it to domestic patients. Through collaboration with Suwon Wills Memorial Hospital, Cellumed expects to provide patient-specific knee joint treatment by applying its self-developed PSI to domestic patients.

A company representative stated, "Cellumed's 3D printing patient-specific total knee arthroplasty (PSI) reduces the risk of complications for elderly patients who have a high burden from surgery, and younger patients can recover quickly by combining rehabilitation treatment, attracting attention." He added, "With the introduction of Cellumed's PSI at the Joint Center of Suwon Wills Memorial Hospital, known as a spine specialty hospital, the number of PSI clinical cases is expected to expand further." He continued, "Based on the continuous expansion of clinical surgeries, we will accelerate the artificial knee joint business aiming for the number one market share in Korea."