ADAPTIVE CUSTOMIZATION: NEW DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES IN ORTHOPEDICS, DRIVEN BY THE MERGING OF IMAGING AND SURGERY

The architectural response for an out-patient orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation facility that merges the fields of imaging and surgery needs to be an architecture of changing needs. Orthopedic patients are a diverse population with varied and changing medical treatment needs. The practice of orthopedic medicine is rapidly changing in response to these needs and ongoing advances in medical technology. One of the most significant changes under way today is the merging of surgical and imaging modalities. Settings for the delivery of orthopedic medicine must be able to better accommodate these changing needs by becoming more easily adaptable while being highly customized at any given point in time. The architecture of this setting should promote a more efficient, effective and dynamic patient care experience achieved through the use of adaptive customization. Adaptive customization, a form of mass customization, increases the modularity and adaptability of a given product and while providing a greater level of customization to each end user. The design of healthcare settings in general, and settings for the practice of orthopedic surgery in