Significant Gift Funds Development of the HSS Digital Twin Platform for Optimizing Orthopedic Care

Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) has received a $10 million gift from Lauren and Robert Steers to develop the HSS Digital Twin Platform, a groundbreaking technology designed to advance orthopedic surgical care across multiple joints and procedures. The revolutionary tool utilizes 3D imaging to create virtual replicas of a patient’s anatomy, enabling surgeons to run real-time, data-driven simulations for surgical planning, intraoperative decision-making and predicting patient outcomes.

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Significant Gift Funds Development of the HSS Digital Twin Platform for Optimizing Orthopedic Care

“The HSS Digital Twin Platform is poised to impact all aspects of orthopedic care, fundamentally transforming how clinicians diagnose, treat and rehabilitate musculoskeletal injuries,” said Andrew D. Pearle, MD, Chief Emeritus of Sports Medicine and Program Director of the Digital Twin project. “Thanks to this transformational gift, HSS stands at the threshold of a new paradigm in personalized orthopedic care.”

“Longtime supporters of HSS, the Steers have been impressed by the continual efforts and commitment of HSS physicians and scientists to advance the standard of care in orthopedics,” said HSS President and CEO Bryan T. Kelly, MD, MBA. “Their incredible gift represents a landmark moment for HSS, transforming a bold idea into a reality and improving patient care through innovation.”

The development and clinical expansion of the HSS Digital Twin Platform in Orthopedics is a four-year project that brings together a multidisciplinary team of HSS surgeons, radiologists, biomechanical engineers and artificial intelligence and data specialists. The initial focus is on the knee, where surgeons will use the tool to create virtual 3D replicas from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and simulate how the joint moves and responds to different surgical options. The tool’s web-based interface will make it easy for surgeons to implement clinically and for patients to understand various scenarios and outcomes.

The HSS Digital Twin Platform is based on more than a decade of work by HSS orthopedic surgeons and biomechanical engineers who recently evolved their computational model of the knee to incorporate artificial intelligence and advanced image processing. In one of its first clinical applications, HSS knee surgeons have been using the tool to determine whether patients who require anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) revision surgery may benefit from an additional procedure to reshape the top of the shin bone, called a slope reduction osteotomy. The HSS Digital Twin Platform allows them to model this complex procedure virtually, one degree at a time, to predict how forces and knee motion will change. Dr. Pearle, along with HSS surgeons Drs. Danyal H. Nawabi, Mark J. Amirtharaj, and Thomas L. Wickiewicz, recently published a milestone paper in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, that demonstrated how the digital twin technology can help surgeons determine whether a slope reduction osteotomy is necessary and, if so, the precise surgical angle for reducing the risk of ACL re-injury.¹ These early applications showcase the platform’s potential to guide precise surgical decisions while laying the foundation for broader use across other joints and procedures.

The potential for the HSS Digital Twin Platform to transform surgical planning and personalized care and provide long-term support for continual innovation inspired the Steers’ decision to make this extraordinary gift to HSS. An endowed chair—the Lauren and Robert Steers Chair in Orthopedic Research and Innovation—also funded by the gift, will be held by Dr. Pearle and will provide long-term support to advance future discoveries in the field.

“We look forward to scaling up the HSS Digital Twin Platform to optimize orthopedic care with unprecedented precision across HSS,” Dr. Pearle said. “After scaling up knee applications, we plan to create digital twins for hip and shoulder. Ultimately, we envision a future where all HSS patients will have online access to a digital twin care companion that aggregates comprehensive musculoskeletal data with the potential to replace the traditional medical record.”

Reference

¹ Sagittal Slope-Reducing High Tibial Osteotomy Decreases Anterior Cruciate Ligament Force and Coupled Internal Tibial Rotation Under Pivoting Loads: A Computational Modeling Study.

Authors: Mark J. Amirtharaj, MD, Reza Pourmodheji, PhD, Mitchell G.A. Wheatley, PhD, Julien Leluc, MD, Andrew E. Pechstein, PhD, Jacob M. Hirth, BS, Michael K. Parides, PhD, Thomas L. Wickiewicz, MD, Andrew D. Pearle, MD, Matthieu Ollivier, MD, PhD, Carl W. Imhauser, PhD, Danyal H. Nawabi, MD.

About HSS

HSS is the world’s leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health. At its core is Hospital for Special Surgery, nationally ranked No. 1 in orthopedics (for the 16th consecutive year), No. 3 in rheumatology by U.S. News & World Report (2025-2026), and the best pediatric orthopedic hospital in NY, NJ and CT by U.S. News & World Report “Best Children’s Hospitals” list (2024-2025). In a survey of medical professionals in more than 20 countries by Newsweek, HSS is ranked world #1 in orthopedics for a fifth consecutive year (2025). Founded in 1863, the Hospital has the lowest readmission rates in the nation for orthopedics, and among the lowest infection and complication rates. HSS was the first in New York State to receive Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service from the American Nurses Credentialing Center five consecutive times. An affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College, HSS has a main campus in New York City and facilities in New Jersey, Connecticut and in the Long Island and Westchester County regions of New York State, as well as in Florida. In addition to patient care, HSS leads the field in research, innovation and education. The HSS Research Institute comprises 20 laboratories and 300 staff members focused on leading the advancement of musculoskeletal health through prevention of degeneration, tissue repair and tissue regeneration. In addition, more than 200 HSS clinical investigators are working to improve patient outcomes through better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat orthopedic, rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. The HSS Innovation Institute works to realize the potential of new drugs, therapeutics and devices. The HSS Education Institute is a trusted leader in advancing musculoskeletal knowledge and research for physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, academic trainees, and consumers in more than 165 countries. The institution is collaborating with medical centers and other organizations to advance the quality and value of musculoskeletal care and to make world-class HSS care more widely accessible nationally and internationally. www.hss.edu.

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