Paper 14.124

D.B. Stefan et al., "Integrating a 3D Body Scanner into an Active Bariatric Surgery Clinic - Practical Experiences, History, Tips and Pitfalls", in Proc. of 5th Int. Conf. on 3D Body Scanning Technologies, Lugano, Switzerland, 2014, pp. 124-136, https://doi.org/10.15221/14.124.

Title:

Integrating a 3D Body Scanner into an Active Bariatric Surgery Clinic - Practical Experiences, History, Tips and Pitfalls

Authors:

David B. Stefan 1, Stephen D. Wohlgemuth 2,3, David A. Gilbert 4

1 Novaptus Systems, Inc. Chesapeake, VA, USA;
2 Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA;
3 Sentara Comprehensive Weight Loss Solutions, Norfolk, VA, USA;
4 The Hague Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Center, Norfolk, VA, USA

Abstract:

In late 2005, a 3D whole body scanner began to be used to measure morbidly obese (bariatric) patients prior to surgery. This scanner was located in a cosmetic surgeon's office. The volume of scans for these bariatric patients soon began to overwhelm the cosmetic surgery practice's staff. In early 2007, a 3D scanner was placed directly into the bariatric surgery clinic. Protocols were written to streamline and define the bariatric clinic's staff involvement and to seamlessly integrate the scanner into the clinic's daily operations. Meaningful reports were designed and a mechanism was created to distribute them to the patients. A billing system was also introduced. Since that time, improvements to scanner technology has led to several scanner replacements, with only slight changes to the overall protocol framework.
To tell the reader that this is a scientific paper presenting the statistical results of applying a 3D whole body scanner to measure a sample of the morbidly obese population or subjects that underwent a cosmetic surgery procedure would be misleading. Those papers and their associated presentations do exist, and the reader is encouraged to look up the other authors of this paper to find them. Rather, this is a narrative about pioneering deployment of 3D scanning systems into two distinct medical environments, from scratch, and with no previous guidelines to act as signposts along the way. As such, you will not find a reference section at the end of this paper.
It is a history of an idea. It is a journey of trial and error?a lot of errors, actually. Some of these errors were self-inflicted, others simply appeared along the way. But this is how one learns. It has been said that "the pioneers take all the arrows, and the settlers take the land". In that vein, this paper offers insight and advice to those looking to deploy a 3D body scanner into a medical environment. Some of this advice may fall under the "well that's obvious" category. Some of the advice may also fall into the "it will never happen to me" bin. Don't be fooled. The big picture is important, but you will find, as we had to, that even the smallest stuff really does matter.

Details:

Full paper: 14.124.pdf
Proceedings: 3DBST 2014, 21-22 Oct. 2014, Lugano, Switzerland
Pages: 124-136
DOI: 10.15221/14.124

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Proceedings of 3DBODY.TECH International Conferences on 3D Body Scanning & Processing Technologies, © Hometrica Consulting, Switzerland