Dr. Elvis Grandic uses the OrthoSensor Knee Balancer to perform knee replacement surgery

Dr. Elvis Grandic at Good Samaritan Medical Center is one of the first surgeons in South Florida to perform intelligent orthopedic knee replacement surgery; a new technology that harnesses the latest innovations in sensors, microelectronics and wireless communications to improve healthcare outcomes and reduce the cost of treating musculoskeletal disease.

Dr. Grandic is using the first sensor-assisted orthopedic instrument, the OrthoSensorTM Knee Balancer, to quantify and verify that they position and balance a knee implant properly during total knee replacement surgery. Proper balance of the soft tissue, such as ligaments, tendons, and muscles, are critical for a knee implant to function correctly. Improper soft tissue balance and alignment has been demonstrated to be the cause of up to 36% of early implant revision procedures. Knee replacements performed with this new intelligent orthopedic device may reduce patients' risk of premature implant failure.

If soft tissues are too tight, the knee cannot regain its full range of motion; if too loose, the joint may become unstable; if loaded excessively on one area, an implant will fail prematurely, said Dr. Grandic. By using Intelligent Orthopedics to optimize the placement of knee implants, we are providing our patients the best chance for successful long-term clinical outcomes.

The low-cost, intelligent, single-use device, made by OrthoSensor, Inc., replaces the standard tibial trial spacer block typically used during knee replacement surgery to fit a knee implant. The surgeon inserts the OrthoSensor Knee Balancer between the femoral and tibial components of the knee implant to customize their placement. The intelligent instrument is embedded with sensors that quantify joint balance intra-operatively, so the surgeon can make adjustments to the soft tissues and optimize implant placement. Once the implant position is finalized, the intelligent instrument is removed and replaced with a permanent implant component.

Until now, surgeons' decisions about these soft tissue functions have varied based on individual judgment, experience and skill set, due to the paucity of quantifiable data. By contrast, the intelligent knee instrument wirelessly transmits key information to a graphic display, enabling the surgeons to visualize and quantify joint balance and load during knee replacement procedures. With this evidence, surgeons can make informed adjustments to the soft tissues to optimize implant placement.

This intelligent device advances our decision-making about crucial soft tissue adjustments from a feel-based art, to a quantifiable science, said Mark Nosacka, Chief Operating Officer, Good Samaritan Medical Center Good Samaritan's orthopedic surgeons now have a new way to measure and verify intra-operatively that a knee implant is properly positioned.