Planning knee replacement surgery? How innovative new tech can help your recovery

(BPT) – Nearly one million Americans will have a total knee replacement this year. In the past five years, knee replacements have received a high-tech enhancement, thanks to the world’s first smart knee implant and digital mobile applications designed to support patients during recovery.Is a knee replacement in your near future?Knee replacement surgery is typically recommended by surgeons for people with end stage, bone-on-bone arthritis who haven’t found relief through conservative treatments. A common misconception is that the entire knee is removed and “replaced.” In reality, the ends of the knee joint are resurfaced with metal components, and a medical grade plastic implant is used to create the new cushion in your knee. Your own muscles and ligaments provide the strength and stability to your new knee.Knee replacements: Then and now Since 1968, when the first total knee replacement was performed, there have been numerous advances making knee replacement a highly successful procedure with great long-term outcomes for many patients. For example, surgeons have replaced using large incisions in favor of minimally invasive approaches with smaller incisions and tissue sparing techniques that can reduce tissue trauma, and in turn post-operative pain and swelling. Many operating rooms come equipped with robotic surgical assistants that allow surgeons to prep the bone, and place and align the implant with accuracy, precision and predictability. And implants come in a variety of shapes and sizes so surgeons can customize the alignment and fit based on the patient’s unique anatomy.While the knee replacement surgery itself has undergone a significant transformation in the last five decades, the post-operative recovery experience hasn’t transformed at the same pace.How groundbreaking technology can aid your recoveryThat is now changing with the availability of smart and digital technologies specifically designed to allow doctors and patients to remotely track how your knee is functioning.In 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the world’s only smart knee implant, known as Persona IQ®. Unlike traditional implants, the Persona IQ smart knee implant contains a smart stem extension with sensors to collect motion data such as the knee range of motion while walking, stride length, walking speed, cadence, the distance walked and step count.The motion data collected by the Persona IQ smart knee implant is securely and wirelessly transferred to a digital care management platform and app known as mymobility®. The app allows patients to communicate with their care providers through messaging and video visits and provides exercises for self-directed rehabilitation. Throughout the recovery, doctors can access their patient’s movement data through the mymobility clinician dashboard.In combination with in-person visits, the ability to collect information from the knee implant 24/7 anytime, anywhere, provides critical data to help doctors make better-informed care decisions for each patient. If you’re a candidate for a knee replacement, talk to your doctor about whether Persona IQ is right for you. Click here to find a surgeon near you who offers Persona IQ.Note: The Persona IQ Smart Knee is not a GPS or tracking device, so it does not have the capability to collect data on your location or track where you’ve been or where you’re going.mymobility is a trademark of Zimmer Biomet or one of its affiliates.Important Safety InformationNot all patients are candidates for this product and/or procedure, and mymobility can only be used if prescribed by a surgeon for patients identified as appropriate for remote care who have internet access and a text-capable mobile device or a compatible smartphone to use mymobility; not all smartphone app features are available with web-based version.IndicationsThe Canary Tibial Extension (CTE) with Canary Health Implanted Reporting Processor (CHIRP) System is intended to provide objective kinematic data from the implanted medical device during a patient’s total knee arthroplasty (TKA) post-surgical care. The kinematic data are an adjunct to other physiological parameter measurement tools applied or utilized by the physician during the course of patient monitoring and treatment post-surgery. The device is indicated for use in patients undergoing a cemented TKA procedure that are normally indicated for at least a 58 mm sized tibial stem extension. The objective kinematic data generated by the CTE with CHIRP System are not intended to support clinical decision-making and have not been shown to provide any clinical benefit. The CTE with CHIRP System is compatible with Zimmer Persona® Personalized Knee System.ContraindicationsThe canturio™ te (CTE) is contraindicated for use in patients who are undergoing procedures or treatments at or in the proximity of the CTE using therapeutic ionizing radiation can result in shortened battery life or premature failure of electronic components. Damage to the CTE by therapeutic ionizing radiation may not be immediately detectable.Before performing TKA on any patient, consider the following contraindications.The Zimmer Biomet Persona® Knee System is contraindicated for use in patients who have:Previous history of infection in the affected joint and/or other local/systemic infection that may affect the prosthetic jointInsufficient bone stock on femoral or tibial surfacesSkeletal immaturityNeuropathic arthropathyOsteoporosis or any loss of musculature or neuromuscular disease that compromises the affected limbA stable, painless arthrodesis in a satisfactory functional positionSevere instability secondary to the absence of collateral ligament integrityTotal Knee Arthroplasty is contraindicated in patients who have rheumatoid arthritis (RA) accompanied by an ulcer of the skin or a history of recurrent breakdown of the skin because their risk of postoperative infection is greater. RA patients using steroids may also have increased risk of infection. Late infections in RA patients have been reported 24+ months postoperative.