Send us Fan Mail

Alex Sah on what it actually takes for a practicing surgeon to develop new orthopaedic tools — from first idea to OR adoption.

An honest conversation about mentors, mistakes, AI, and knowing when to walk away from a collaboration.

Most surgeons spot problems in the OR daily and quietly adapt to the limits of existing tools. Alex Sah, a high-volume hip and knee surgeon in Silicon Valley and Chief Medical Officer at Think Surgical, has chosen instead to engage directly with industry — first as an evaluator, then as an advisor, and eventually as a design partner. In this conversation with Joe Schwab, he walks through how that progression actually works in practice, and why he thinks every surgeon with a good idea owes it to themselves to start the process now rather than later.

The discussion gets practical fast. Alex breaks down how to vet an idea with a mentor and a patent search, why timing and portfolio fit can make or break a great concept, how to set milestones that let you walk away gracefully from a stalled collaboration, and why the technologies that succeed are usually the ones that speak for themselves the first time a surgeon uses them. He also shares a small habit with big implications — keeping his OR team blinded when testing new products to neutralize the placebo effect that quietly distorts informal evaluations.

The conversation closes on AI's inevitable arrival in orthopaedics, the surgeon's role in shaping it before it gets shaped for us, and the AHF Shark Tank as a live laboratory for the From Idea to Market journey. If you've been sitting on an idea, or wondering whether to take that next call from a device rep with a prototype, this episode is a realistic map of the road ahead.

⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 Introduction and Silicon Valley innovation roots
01:02 Why surgeons should solve problems instead of adapting
03:25 Surgeon roles in product development
04:24 First steps for surgeons with no industry connections
05:41 Turning a clinical idea into a development concept
06:46 Setting milestones and knowing when to walk away
08:01 Lessons from working with Think Surgical
10:50 Evaluating new surgical technology objectively
12:14 Essential advice for first-time surgeon innovators
15:47 Why surgeons must help shape AI in orthopaedics
17:40 Inside the AHF Shark Tank for surgical innovation

Listen to the AHF Podcast on your preferred platform:
Buzzsprout: https://ahfpodcast.buzzsprout.com
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ahf-podcast/id1749521487
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5CrGJyvRiQFTCU3FFFVvHc
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/ahf-podcast
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@anteriorhipfoundation
Homepage: https://anteriorhipfoundation.com

This podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only.

The content discussed does not constitute medical advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional judgment. Clinicians should rely on their own training, experience, and clinical decision-making when applying information from this discussion.

#AnteriorHipFoundation #AHFPodcast #AlexanderSah #SurgeonInnovator #MedicalDeviceDevelopment #ThinkSurgical #Ospitek #OrthopaedicInnovation #JointReplacement #HipAndKneeSurgery #AIinSurgery #FromIdeaToMarket #MedTech #SurgicalRobotics