Smart knee allows surgeons to keep up with patients every step of their recovery

68-year-old James Myers of Lakewood Ranch served in the U.S. Army for 21 years with assignments in both the airborne and mechanized infantry divisions. After jumping out of airplanes, rappelling from helicopters, exercising and jogging for years he had developed chronic pain in his knee in the airborne infantry division. Myers recently had knee replacement surgery at HCA Florida Sarasota Doctors Hospital with orthopedic surgeon John Thomas, MD. Myers is one of the first patients in the area to have the latest technology in knee replacement, a smart knee.

The smart knee device is part of the joint replacement prosthesis. It contains a small Bluetooth sensor that measures Myers’ range of motion, step count and walking speed throughout his day. Data is downloaded at night through a modem in his home and sent to a cloud-based platform. He can look at the data on an app on his phone or laptop to track his progress. “At first I thought, they can track my every move, but it has really helped with my motivation. I have been doing all my physical therapy for recovery. Before surgery my pain level was a ten, now it feels like a one,” said Myers.

The smart knee allows surgeons to monitor patients in real time as well. Surgeons can log into the platform and see if a patient is not taking enough steps, they may need additional physical therapy or if their gait is abnormal it may be a sign of a complication. “This is groundbreaking stuff, I am able to see things that I know will make a difference in a patient’s recovery,” said surgeon John Thomas, MD.