Mercy Medical Center Now Offers New Smart Implant for Knee with Advantages for Patient and Surgeon

Newswise — (Baltimore, MD) – Orthopedic surgeons Marc W. Hungerford, M.D., Chief of Orthopedics at Mercy Medical Center, and Philip Neubauer, R.Ph., M.D., of Orthopedics and Joint Replacement at Mercy, are among the first surgeons in Maryland to offer “smart implant” technology during knee replacement surgery.

Developed by ZIMMER BIOMET, the Persona IQ® has a small “smart” stem extension attached to the bottom portion of the implant. This stem contains sensors that capture patient-specific motion data through-out the day, analyzes it overnight, and presents it for review the following day.

“Essentially it’s a joint replacement using a prosthesis equipped with smart device that can track the patient’s progress,” Dr. Hungerford said.

“Imagine a bionic body part that can talk to your smartphone. It’s not science fiction, it’s the world’s first and only FDA-approved smart knee implant for total knee replacement surgery,” Dr. Neubauer said.

Surgeons and care teams are provided remote access to key post-operative metrics throughout their patient's surgical journey in order to monitor post-TKA (Total knee arthroplasty) activity levels between office visits. 

The smart knee implant captures relevant gait metrics including:

• Functional Knee Range of Motion (ROM)
• Qualified Step Count
• Walking Speed
• Cadence
• Distance Traveled
• Stride Length

The smart knee implants provide a direct view of patient-specific data for at least 10 years, allowing surgeons to monitor their patients' activity level between visits. This way, they can stay connected during patients' total knee arthroplasty post-surgical care. 

Additionally, patients may feel more connected in their recovery journey when they are able to follow their post-operative metrics — fostering higher patient interaction.

“Through this new technology, there is greater patient engagement, and surgeons can monitor how a patient is progressing remotely. This means better management of postoperative care,” Dr. Hungerford said.

“With the Persona IQ, as a physician, I’m no longer merely estimating how well a patient’s joint is working after surgery—I have the data to determine how my patient is really doing,” Dr. Neubauer said.

“Mercy is always looking for ways to improve our patient experiences and treatment outcomes,” said Dr. Hungerford, “whether it’s the emphasis on pre-surgical education, improvements to surgical pathways or advances in techniques and equipment. The smart implants offer real benefits to post-operative care, and we’re looking forward to sharing those with patients.”

Founded in 1874 by The Sisters of Mercy, Mercy is home to the acclaimed Weinberg Center for Women’s Health & Medicine and the $400+ million, 20-story Mary Catherine Bunting Center. A university-affiliated teaching hospital, Mercy is nationally recognized with Magnet status for nursing excellence and named by Healthgrades as one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery. For more information about Mercy, visit http://www.mdmercy.com, MDMercyMedia on Facebook and Twitter(X), @MDMercy on Youtube, or call 1-800-M.D.-Mercy.

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