Smith & Nephew, the global medical technology business, and OrthoSensor, the leader in intelligent orthopaedics, have entered into an agreement that will enable surgeons to benefit from OrthoSensor’s Verasense Sensor Assisted Surgery Technology for soft tissue balancing when implanting Smith & Nephew’s JOURNEY- II and LEGION- Total Knee Systems.

Verasense utilizes advanced sensor technologies to enable evidence-based surgical decisions regarding component position, limb alignment and soft tissue balance to optimize outcomes in total knee replacement. Research shows that patients whose knees have been balanced with the Verasense Knee System report less pain and experience greater improvements in function, activity levels and satisfaction post-operatively.

“Proper alignment and soft-tissue balance are vital to achieving favourable biomechanics in total knee replacement procedures,” said Dr. Steven Haas, chief of the Knee Service at New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery. “Verasense not only allows me to verify the benefits of newer knee designs, it also helps ensure proper knee balance, which leads to a more normal feeling knee and a return to the active lifestyle these patients desire.”

“Our JOURNEY II Total Knee System with Verilast-  Technology is already delivering improved knee motion, patient function and implant wear reduction,” said Gaurav Agarwal, president of Orthopaedic Reconstruction for Smith & Nephew. “By combining our innovations with Verasense’s exacting component placement and soft-tissue balancing our surgeons can deliver even more benefits to patients.”

Historically, soft tissue balancing has been accomplished by subjective surgeon feel. The Verasense Knee System now provides surgeons with real-time, quantitative data that enables evidence-based, intraoperative decisions regarding component position, limb alignment and soft tissue releases to achieve balance and stability through a full range of motion.  At one-year, 97% of patients whose knees were quantifiably balanced using the Verasense Knee System said they were ‘satisfied’ to ‘very satisfied’ with the outcome of their total knee arthroplasty (TKA), a marked improvement over the average 81% satisfaction reported in literature.

Jay Pierce, president and CEO of OrthoSensor, added, “We are seeing promising improvements in clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction in a multi-centre study tracking patients balanced with Verasense.  We are pleased to work with Smith & Nephew to enable more surgeons to better treat their patients with our technology and the JOURNEY II and LEGION Total Knee Systems.”

Verilast Technology is a unique combination of two advanced, wear-reducing materials: Smith & Nephew’s award-winning Oxinium Oxidized Zirconium, a ceramicised metal alloy, and a “cross-linked” plastic component (XLPE).

Smith & Nephew is a global medical technology business dedicated to helping healthcare professionals improve people's lives.

OrthoSensor, Inc. develops and commercializes intelligent orthopaedic devices and data services that provide quantitative feedback to surgeons and hospitals.