What You Should Know:
– Joint Ai, an AI-powered triage platform for patients with knee and hip arthritis, has received a $315,000 investment from the Richard King Mellon Foundation.
– The funding will accelerate technology development, deepen strategic partnerships, and broaden nationwide access to orthopaedic surgeons.
Funding from Richard King Mellon Foundation to Enhance Technology, Partnerships, and Access to Orthopaedic Care
Arthritis represents a growing challenge for the U.S. healthcare system, with annual spending exceeding $34 billion. Knee and hip replacements are rising 6% year over year, and by 2050, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons projects providers will need to double their caseloads to meet demand. Meanwhile, surgeon availability is declining, and current providers spend nearly one-third of their time with non-operative patients, often leading to re-referrals. These mounting pressures underscore the need for innovative solutions to optimize care delivery.
Joint Ai addresses this gap with a clinical decision aid designed to evaluate and triage patients experiencing joint pain. By analyzing X-ray images alongside patient-reported outcomes, the platform generates individualized insights into joint health. Its proprietary AI not only measures degeneration but also recommends personalized treatment pathways—operative or non-operative—aligning seamlessly with clinical workflows. This helps surgeons prioritize patients who require intervention while engaging patients in shared decision-making.
“Our mission is to improve both provider and patient experiences by developing tools that expand access to care and reduce delays,” said Dr. Tony DiGioia, Orthopaedic Surgeon and Founder of Joint Ai. “With this new funding, we aren’t just building another clinical tool—we’re creating a fundamentally smarter way to evaluate and diagnose patients. By combining surgical expertise with advanced AI, we aim to provide orthopaedic teams with the insights they need to deliver timely, effective care.”
Dr. DiGioia, an engineer, entrepreneur, and practicing orthopaedic surgeon based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, brings decades of innovation to the field. He also serves as founder and medical director of the Bone and Joint Center at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, the Wellness Center for Bone and Joint Health, the UPMC Innovation Center, and the nonprofit AMD3 Foundation. A pioneer in robotics, navigation, and computer-assisted surgery, DiGioia has consistently advanced technologies that integrate engineering and medicine to improve patient outcomes.
The investment comes through the Richard King Mellon Foundation’s Social-Impact Investment Program, which backs for-profit startups aligned with the Foundation’s mission-driven strategy. Joint Ai is committed to leveraging proprietary AI models to streamline evaluations, shorten time-to-triage, and strengthen access to orthopaedic care for arthritis patients nationwide.
