Conformis Patient-Specific Custom Total Knee Replacement
Knee replacement is a highly technical procedure that requires resurfacing the joint, realigning the leg and balancing the ligaments to provide simultaneous stability with mobility. Despite decades of refinements in surgical technique, biomaterials implant design and other technologies such as robotics and navigation, the results of knee replacement continue to indicate that up to 20% of patients are not ecstatic about their outcome.
Many of these patients report that they can tell the implant is not their normal knee, that it clicks, feels tight or just generally not natural. Some of these symptoms may stem from the fact that conventional knee implants are generically sized like shoes. Picking the appropriate size for any given patient along with its proper implant placement, often requires some to achieve a reasonable fit. Furthermore, a majority of widely used femur implants are not shaped like the normal femur which again requires compromises in implant positioning to achieve alignment and stability. These compromises may be linked to patient dissatisfaction.
To raise the bar on a more natural feeling knee, Conformis designs implants that are custom fit to each patient. Using a proprietary CT scan-based, image to implant platforms, Conformis engineers implants that are shaped to match an individual patients normal anatomy. These custom implants are then inserted with customized 3D-printed jigs that ensure their proper positioning in the knee to restore near normal anatomy. Each patient gets a unique, patient-specific implant and surgical plan.
Designed for a more natural feeling knee
Conformis implants are designed to mimic the natural shape of your knee, which plays an important role in the way your knee bends and extends. By restoring the natural shape of your knee rather than eplacing it with the standardized geometry of off-the-shelf implants, your knee may feel more like your natural knee.
Each knee has its own shape and curvature
Each implant is customized based on your set of curves
Stability more closely matched to the normal knee
Many patients complain that their knee feels wobbly after knee replacement surgery. This feeling is formally known as mid-flexion instability. Off-the-shelf knee implants aren’t designed to match the natural offset joint line that most patients have. Instead, they flatten the offset to the same height, which can lead to mid-flexion instability.
Conformis implants maintain the patient’s medial and lateral joint lines, which allows for a more stable knee after surgery.
Patient’s natural medial and lateral joint lines
iTotal matches the patient’s shape, respecting the joint lines
Patil, et al; Patient-Specific Implants and Cutting Guides Better Approximate Natural Kinematics than Standard Total Knee Arthroplasty. ORS Annual Meeting 2013, Vol.38. Abstract # 0965
With well over 100,000 Conformis knees having been performed around the country, this implant has an excellent track record, Patients who have a Conformis implant on one side and an off-the-shelf implant on the other, almost uniformly prefer their Conformis knee.
Dr. Parsons has performed well over 500 Conformis total knee replacements. When combined with the Jiffy Knee muscle-sparing surgical approach and our A.V.A.T.A.R™ rapid recovery care program, we strive to achieve better function faster for our patients.