Hip, shoulder, elbow, ankle—whatever the source of a patient’s discomfort, orthopedic surgeon John Dundon, MD, maintains the same high standards of care. However, a recent interview with OR Manager revealed key differences in how he and his team treat a certain subset of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients: Those who opt for a “smart” implant.
Transmitted directly from the joint and conveniently graphed on cloud-based dashboards, kinematic data including step counts, speed, stride length, and more are accessible from any internet-enabled device. Updated every 24 hours and subject to none of the variability associated with patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), this timely, accurate feed enables the care team to check recovery progress remotely, zero in on patients who most need help, and adjust care plans as-needed rather than wait for scheduled follow-ups.
For Dr Dundon’s patients, this more efficient, personalized form of remote care can extend quality-of-life improvements beyond the direct benefits of a reconstructed joint. There are no wearables or self-reporting requirements to manage; rehabilitation is tailored to individual needs; and visibility into the data can motivate more active involvement in patients’ own care. And as long as recovery progresses normally, in-person appointments become less necessary. In addition to tracking how well a patient is recovering, the data can potentially alert surgeons to loosening or other problems with the implant itself.
Therein lies the financial viability of a nascent technology that remains costly for providers, says Dr Dundon, who performs surgical procedures at his own private practice and at the Tri-County Orthopedics group in addition to serving as chief of arthroplasty at Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey. Since his first experience with the technology—Zimmer Biomet’s Persona IQ—in May 2023, he says postoperative visits among smart knee patients have been “cut in half.” Fewer postop appointments translate to more slots for new patients who stand to benefit from the new technology. The net effect is a win-win. “Some of my patients live more than an hour away,” he explains. “They’ve got a 2-hour round trip and 40 minutes in the office, all for me to walk in and say, ‘thumbs up, looks good.’ That’s wasting everyone’s time.”
Persona IQ is touted as the first “smart” knee, but it is not the first or only example of technology that transmits data from inside a patient’s body. In fact, Zimmer Biomet partner Canary Medical, which developed the sensor and data platform, released similar technology for spinal and cardiovascular implants earlier this year (sidebar, Beyond the smart knee). In addition to remote patient monitoring of the sort practiced by Dr Dundon, this technology offers the promise of process-improving intraoperative feedback as well as monitoring of the health of the implant itself.
By: Matt Danford | OR Manager
Image Credit: Zimmer Biomet / Canary Medical
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