DOCSF Venture 2023: Early Interpretation of Implantable TKA Data

Digital Orthopaedics Conference (DOCSF)

In this episode, Dr. Bill Hunter, Founder, President, and CEO of Canary Medical, presents the early interpretation and exciting potential of data taken from implantable prostheses. In this case, the data comes from Zimmer Biomet’s IQ Knee. This product uses a variety of sensors to record a wide array of activity metrics from inside the knee to provide data that might be useful for doctors: step count, cadence, stride length, distance traveled, and gait speed.

The prosthesis counts with a battery that works similarly to a pacemaker’s and a programmed transmitter that provides information several times a day, but not in real-time. It also counts on a recorder that allows physicians to see what is happening inside the knee and identifies movement abnormalities by registering characteristic patterns that can be interpreted by physicians or physiotherapists.

What is the point of this? These types of technologies seek to match physiology to other health problems, especially in post-op TKA patients. Ideally, with a set of parameters and standards, this would be able to determine whether a patient has a normal range of motion or not. The ultimate goal of this technology would be not only to understand gait movements but how abnormalities could be used to trace other issues on the clinical side.

Listen to this episode and learn about the future of implantable data!