Surgical Procedure and Bone Correction Automation

A SOLIDWORKS add-in that organizes foot-bone model preparation, defines surgical planning landmarks, and supports an interactive workflow for correcting dislocated bones in CAD.

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This case study describes a software engineering workflow built inside SOLIDWORKS to support surgical planning preparation. It is a description of the CAD automation delivered, not a clinical or medical-device performance claim.

ClientConfidential

IndustryCustom surgical equipment (US)

PlatformSOLIDWORKS

Input dataSTL bone models

The challenge

A multi-stage manual workflow, repeated for every case

The planning workflow began with STL files for multiple bones, which needed to be imported, converted into mesh and surface bodies, and then oriented and positioned in an assembly to form a complete foot profile. That profile then needed landmarks to guide component placement — landmarks that in turn supported a complex, interactive process for establishing the correct orientation of dislocated bones. Managing these steps by hand could mean repeated selection and navigation through sketches and features in the FeatureManager, creating both time pressure and room for error.

The solution

One add-in, from model intake to interactive correction

A SOLIDWORKS add-in manages the project workflow from model intake through interactive bone correction. It imports bodies from a user-defined location, converts them as the workflow requires, updates color and material properties, creates the assembly, inserts components, and applies constraints. The add-in also provides landmark definition and an interactive automation module that uses those landmarks to orient dislocated bones, with visual validation at critical stages so users can review results directly in the interface rather than hunting through the feature tree.

Capabilities

What the add-in does

Manages the surgical planning project within a SOLIDWORKS add-in
Imports STL-derived bodies automatically from a user-defined location
Converts bodies to mesh and surface representations as the workflow requires
Updates body colors and material properties
Creates an assembly, inserts components, and applies constraints
Builds the complete foot profile by orienting and locating bone bodies
Defines planning landmarks with at most one user selection
Provides visual validation at critical steps directly in the interface

Technical highlights

How it was built

SOLIDWORKS add-in tailored to a multi-stage medical-device planning workflow
STL, mesh-body and surface-body handling
Assembly creation, component insertion and constraint application
Landmark-driven interactive automation with in-interface visual checks
Interactive module orients dislocated bones using the defined landmarks, with minimal user interaction

Outcome

Less navigation, fewer manual selections

The workflow was designed to reduce the number of user selections and interactions required, and to lower reliance on manually navigating sketch entities and features in the FeatureManager. No numeric time-savings, error-rate or accuracy figure was recorded for this engagement, so none is quoted here — the result is a streamlined, landmark-driven planning workflow rather than a measured performance statistic.

Skills and technologies

Relevant to this engagement

SOLIDWORKS Add-In Development STL & Mesh-Body Workflows Surface-Body Conversion Assembly Automation Component Placement & Constraints Landmark-Based Design Automation Interactive CAD Workflows

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