As smart technology evolves, a fascinating trend in implants is revolutionizing orthopedic technology.
Smart implants. Implants that collect data in-vivo, process that data with embedded processors, and then go a step further by transmitting that data, in real time, to the patient’s healthcare team.
Orthopedic medtech giant Stryker Corporation saw this opportunity, acquired cutting edge technology and made it proprietary. OTW sat down to speak with Steve Wallace, Vice President and General Manager, Knees at Stryker to discuss these remarkable new technologies and how Stryker hopes to use them to transform patient outcomes and raise the continuum of care for surgeons and orthopedic caregivers alike.
Strengthened Markets and a Landmark Merger
Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Stryker Corporation was founded in 1941 by orthopedic surgeon and inventor Homer Stryker, M.D. From a small family business fabricating orthopedic frames, Stryker has grown to a global medical products company employing over 33,000 people. In line with its overall corporate objectives of developing innovative medical technologies across orthopedic, surgical, and neurotechnology markets, the company has accumulated an increasingly sophisticated digital product portfolio and developed new information and data capabilities.
In January 2021, Stryker acquired a leader in digital musculoskeletal care, Dania Beach, Florida-based OrthoSensor, Inc. which had developed a proprietary series of sensor and data analytics technologies for total joint replacement, among them VeraSense.
VeraSense and MotionSense – Delivering Statistically Significant Patient Outcome Gains
OTW asked Steve Wallace about the surgeon reaction to Stryker’s smart implants and advanced analytics at the recently concluded 2022 AAOS meeting. “The excitement is really around our transformation into this digitally enabled hardware company. We were showcasing our VeraSense product as well as the MotionSense product and both of those were received very, very well and there was a lot of excitement, a lot of buzz at the meeting around them,” he said.
Wallace went on to explain that the conversation with surgeons at AAOS was about how digital technologies can address practical clinical issues. “If a knee is incorrectly balanced during a total knee arthroplasty, it can result in pain, instability, stiffness, and a limited range of motion for the postoperative patient. The use of VeraSense for Triathlon has demonstrated statistically significant improvements in postsurgical recovery and physical therapy outcomes. This translates into shorter treatment time and lower overall healthcare costs.”
“VeraSense,” said Wallace, “replaces what is normally a plastic tibial trial spacer during primary and revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA). A single-use digital sensor gauges medial and lateral pressure and delivers data wirelessly. The technology allows surgeons to provide soft-tissue balancing and superior implant placing, in response to real-time intraoperative data. The VeraSense Software Application displays high-definition data on a monitor in the operating room. Surgeons can customize implant placement and ligament balance in a way that is uniquely suited to the individual patient using this highly personalized virtual feedback.”
Wallace also told OTW about the companion digital product, MotionSense. “The other component of Stryker’s digital transformation is a product called MotionSense,” he explained. “This is an externally wearable product—two stickers, one that goes above the knee, one that goes below the knee. Together they monitor the patient post-operatively. The care team collects baseline data about a week before surgery, and then, with MotionSense monitor the patient postoperatively for about 90 days. The sensors capture steps, range of motion, gait. The patient can record their own pain scores. Images of the wound can be sent to the surgeon…physical therapy can be conducted through an app as well. So, it really keeps that surgeon or care team connected to the patient.”
Surgeon Receptiveness Is About Staying Connected to Their Patient
Orthopedic surgeons are notoriously conservative. Yet, the receptiveness at AAOS was, as OTW saw, good. Wallace suspects it’s not just the novelty of smart technology, but the prospect of staying connected to patients that is contributing to the overall positive reception.
“I think they’re excited by the ability to stay connected to their patient,” he said. “And I think there are a couple of aspects of staying connected. It’s the surgeon, but it’s also the care team.”
“So…it might be a nurse coordinator that is doing some monitoring of the patient. And in the physician’s office, or on the surgeon side, there is a dashboard where they’ve got information that’s being fed back from the patients with MotionSense remote monitoring and they can set alerts.”
“So, if everything’s fine, you know, no harm, they just continue along. But if something happens, pain score spikes, or if a range of motion spikes where it shouldn’t, a little alert comes on and then the surgeon or the care team can intervene or can call that patient and understand what’s going on.”
“It’s a nice way of keeping people connected,” Wallace reflected. “I think the ability to stay connected to that patient is something that’s very appealing to patients, as well. They want to make sure that they’re on the right path to recovery. And the product and the way that it’s inserted, the surgical execution intraoperatively are obviously very important components of success, but another big component of success is how that patient rehabs and making sure that they’re on the right path and doing the right things that they should be.”
“And this helps ensure that the patient is doing the best that they can to make sure their recovery is as good as it can be.”
Wallace also noted that offices are excited about technology, as patients with concerns or questions may receive support through the app as opposed to having to utilize busy office phone lines. Patient information being delivered directly to providers means less stress for office staff.
Looking Ahead
When we asked Wallace about the future of digital technologies at Stryker, he talked data. “I think you look forward over the next few years and you see a lot more data coming, a lot more insights coming from this information,” he replied. “I think these insights are going to help inform surgeons on what approaches they might want to take or modify as they’re going forward, given a certain patient’s anatomy and demographics. And I also think it’s going to help Stryker as we continue to look to innovate the knee implants and digital capabilities of the future. So, I think all of this is going to yield a lot of data, which is going to yield a lot of insights and ultimately make patient care even better in the future.”
Like all manufacturers in literally every industry, the continuing revolution in software and processing power is transforming the business of making, selling, implanting, and managing orthopedic and spine implants, instruments and, ultimately, we think at OTW, the entire operating system of medicine.
