Unique computer-assisted knee replacement technology helps patients recover faster
Implants work better and last longer
The technology, called “VectorVision” and only offered at SSM St. Mary’s Health Center, was developed by BrainLAB and helps surgeons such as Dr. David Irvine, a physician with Mid-County Orthopedics, position knee implants so that they work better and last longer. Using a sophisticated camera that transmits measurements and positioning to a computer system, the technology calculates the implant site precisely, within 2 degrees and two centimeters. The BrainLAB screen shows surgeons exactly where their instruments are in relation to the bone. It assists Dr. Irvine in determining where to make incisions.
Less pain, faster recovery
“In a standard knee replacement, the surgeon will implant the knee within 1½ to three degrees of where it should be,” says Dr. Irvine. “Computer-assisted surgery reduces that error to less than 1½ degrees.”
Computer-assisted techniques enable surgeons to decrease the size of a patient’s incision without sacrificing precision. This means significantly less scarring, less soft tissue disruption, less pain and speedier recovery times.
a recovery in record time
Sister Ann Ware was Dr. Irvine’s first patient to undergo computer-assisted knee replacement. The 86-year-old nun at St. Mary’s feared she would not recover well because of her age. But less than a week after the surgery, she impressed her physical therapist by bending her knee 120 degrees. Now, she walks without a cane.
“I was able to do things at the end of a week that it took others two weeks to do,” she says.
Fine-tuned knee replacement has longer life span
Dr. Irvine says the most common problem with knee implants is finding the correct axis and ensuring that the ligaments have the right tension after the operation. Otherwise the patient will not be able to move the leg smoothly. VectorVision helps surgeons by creating a three-dimensional computer image of the patient’s knee and tracking the position of the implant on screen during surgery.
“Accurate surgical alignment of the prosthetic knee is crucial to the surgery’s success,” Dr. Irvine says. “A fine-tuned knee replacement also is expected to have a longer life span.”
The best results
Nationwide, surgeons perform about 300,000 total knee replacements every year, according to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. As many as 26 percent of traditional knee replacements are poorly positioned with more than three degrees of error. Dr. Irvine says that he has achieved optimum knee position on all of the computer-assisted surgeries he has performed.
