Exactech Leverages AI with Machine Learning Team

Tell us about your background and what got you interested in AI/ML?

My interest in AI/ML began 18 years ago during an undergraduate internship, where I worked with clinicians and AI experts to develop a tool identifying the possibility of blindness (retinopathy) in newborns. This experience gave me firsthand exposure to AI algorithms and their profound impact on human lives, instilling my belief in AI as a powerful technology. As a trained computer scientist, I’ve spent 15+ years in academia and industry specializing in AI/ML, particularly in Recommendation Systems. For the past six years, I’ve led teams pioneering healthcare AI algorithms for arthroplasty.

What brought you to Exactech?

Exactech is at the forefront of orthopedic innovation, leveraging AI to enhance clinical decision-making. My team and I first partnered with Exactech in 2019 to develop a clinical outcome prediction algorithm for shoulder surgery. This collaboration led to Predict+*, the world’s first decision support tool for shoulder arthroplasty. Through this collaboration, we saw the potential for AI to transform the surgeon’s experience while also recognizing the complexities of integrating AI/ML into surgical workflows, including regulatory, compliance, and evolving clinical needs. In early 2023, our partnership led to an acquisition of the team, and now we work directly with Exactech’s design, research and surgeon teams. This integration, as part of the Exactech Advanced Surgical Technologies department and close collaboration with their Blue Ortho team, has accelerated algorithm development, validation and real-world impact.

What inspires you as a leader in AI?

There is a universal tension between affordability and access to quality care. A significant portion of the global population still struggles to afford medical services, particularly treatments, such as arthroplasty. The potential of AI and modern technology to bridge this gap and improve access to quality care inspires me. I envision a future where AI-driven solutions make healthcare more affordable, evidence-based and equitable for a broader population.

In his spare time, Vikas enjoys exploring the Pacific Northwest on bike rides, keeping active with indoor sports like squash and badminton, and staying current with AI/ML research.

Why do you think it’s important for Exactech to have its own in-house ML team?

Integrating AI into the medical device industry is uniquely complex, requiring strict compliance with regulations. While external teams can support development, true adoption demands deep industry alignment. An in-house AI/ML team fosters collaboration across medical, regulatory, and technical domains, ensuring solutions are accurate, secure, and compliant. This approach is designed to accelerate innovation, enhance operational and clinical efficiency, and improve patient outcomes.

What is your vision for the integration of AI and ML at Exactech?

Our vision at Exactech is to bring evidence-based decision-making across the spectrum of care in total joint arthroplasty. We believe evidence-based and data-driven decisions across device and patient journeys can help improve on all key values of care – personalize care to patient needs, reduce disparities and improve intraoperative care with high precision and accuracy, improve clinician and care team experience, reduce costs and significantly improve the quality and outcomes of devices.

How do you see AI and ML shaping the medical device industry over the next five years?

With AI/ML growing and evolving at an unprecedented pace over the last couple of years, its impact on the medical device industry will continue to accelerate. I expect that modern generative AI algorithms have a key role in transforming clinical workflows, revolutionizing AI-assisted analysis of care. These advancements will enhance diagnostic accuracy, personalize patient care and treatment planning, improve intraoperative precision with AI-assisted navigation and robotics, and provide deeper insights into postoperative monitoring and outcomes. Surgeons will be able to not only improve care, but also contribute to global knowledge-sharing, expanding access to expertise and innovation while reducing disparities in specialized care.

How do you plan to keep Exactech at the forefront of AI developments in the industry?

We are focused on three key areas:

1. pioneering an industry-specific AI framework for secure and safe adoption of our algorithms,
2. hybrid (cloud and on-premise) infrastructure to provide, adopt and evaluate modern AI algorithms; and
3. enhancing compliance with innovative risk controls and monitoring measures.

With our early start in AI, rapid adoption of scalable cloud infrastructure, and access to top experts across business, manufacturing, operations, and clinical, we are positioned to create truly game-changing products for the industry.

Exactech is leading the way with its Active Intelligence^® ecosystem of smart technologies. Soon, Exactech customers can expect significant advancements in our preoperative planning and navigation software and intraoperative planning based on live acquisitions through our GPS ecosystem. We are also working on automating medical image analysis for both bone and soft tissue, with the goal of enabling accurate treatment planning and outcomes prediction.

What advice would you give to those who are interested in pursuing a career in AI/ML?

My advice for someone who is interested in the field would be to familiarize yourself with modern AI/ML technology, its history and its building blocks that are rooted in the fundamentals of math and programming. Identify small AI/ML problems within your daily life to solve, use open-source platforms and experiment without needing a powerful computer or expensive resource. Leverage the plethora of courses available online to help you start and build your knowledge in the domain. Rely on technical resources and learn from the pioneers and giants of the field. And most importantly, stay curious, read, and find a community or mentor to share, learn and build together!