The Clinic Effect is a new series, where we highlight current and past IP Innovation Clinic clients from our 15-year history of helping advance IP sophistication and support in Ontario and across Canada.
Hip and knee replacements are among the most common surgeries1,makingadvancements in join replacement care widely meaningful. Andre Hladio, Co-Founder and CTO ofIntellijointSurgical Inc.,is committedto improving that experience.Drawing on his backgroundin engineering from the Universityof Waterloo and a passion for MedTechinnovation,he focuses on technologies that enhance patient mobility and support surgeons in the operating room.
The Innovation
Intellijoint Surgical’s mission is to improve patients’ lives by providing every surgeon with effective and easy-to-use technology. The company develops surgical navigation and planning products that support orthopedic surgeons performing hip and knee replacements.
Andre describes the company’s work as an ongoing effort to create solutions that:
- Help surgeons provide superior care
- Align with the realities of today’s highly constrained healthcare system
- Offerviablebusiness economics
“In short, the problem we are solving is a clinical one (i.e. improving patient outcomes), within a broader healthcare system and business context. Anything less than that would bean impedimentto scaling, and thus at odds with our mission”
- Andre Hladio
The Impact
Intellijointprioritizes meaningful improvements to patient outcomes delivered in a cost-effective and responsible way. The company evaluates value in terms patient outcomes per dollar, taking a systemic approach to healthcare costs.
According to Andre,Intellijointcompeteswith robotic technologies, which differ significantly fromthe company’svalues.Heargues that robotic systems tend to be “bulky, expensive, add time to surgical procedures and create significantly more surgical waste than Intellijoint." Meanwhile,Intellijointoffers an alternative that reflects itscommitmentto responsible, scalable innovation.
Achievements & Milestones
To date,Intellijointtechnology has been used for over80,000 patients.Andre notes this as his proudest accomplishment, emphasizing the company’s role in improving the lives of thousands of patients.
Their key products include:
- IntellijointVIEW®:A web-based tool for planning hip and knee surgeries, including cup placement, implant templating, and aligning planning, all without needing Ct imaging.
- IntellijointHIP®: Provides real-time measurements during surgery to support primary and revision total hip replacements.
- IntellijointKNEE®: Assists surgeons during knee replacement by guiding measurements, instrument alignment, and bone cuts.
The IP
Andre offers clear advice for anyone beginning their own IP journey: start with the purpose. He emphasizes that understanding your broaderobjectiveis essential todeterminingthe right IP priorities.
“Excellence in product development and IP generation are intrinsically linked. In thevery earlydays of product ideation and prototyping, wesoughtto get patent coverage and understand our patent landscape. We worked with the IP Innovation Clinic to help us get started on our IP journey.”
-Andre Hladio
The Company
To learn more about the company, visit theirandfollow themon.
- Inspira Health Network, “Top 10 Most Common Surgeries: What You Need to Know,” April 11, 2025. ↩︎