Patient-Specific Bicompartmental Knee Resurfacing Implant

Description: OR-Live will broadcast a live surgery from Brigham and Women's Hospital utilizing a novel, personalized knee implant. The new prosthetic, the ConforMIS iDuo, is a bicompartmental resurfacing implant designed for patients whose arthritic damage is limited to either the medial or lateral compartments of the knee, in addition to the patellofemoral compartment. The implant resurfaces only the affected areas, offering a minimally invasive, bone preserving option for younger patients that does not compromise their ability to move to a traditional total knee replacement in the future. The procedure also preserves the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments, which help to maintain knee kinematics.

Dr. Tom Minas, Director of the Cartilage Repair Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Dr. Wolfgang Fitz, Associate Orthopaedic Surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital will perform the surgery. The webcast will be moderated by Dr. Thomas Thornhill, MD, Chief of Orthopaedics at Brigham and Women's.

The implant is created through an advanced image-to-implant process that utilizes CT scans from a patient to create a virtual model of a patient's knee. The implant, as well as the cutting and placement guides used for the surgery, are custom designed and manufactured to match each patient's knee anatomy.

To assure precise implantation, the surgeons will utilize patient-specific instruments designed from the same scans as the implant, including data on the patient's biomechanical axis. The patient-specific cutting and placement guides reduce the number of steps during surgery and provide precise guidance to accurately place the instruments, simplifying the surgical technique. This personalized approach eliminates many of the bone cuts required in traditional surgery, helping to reduce surgical and recovery times. More than 80 patient-specific, partial knee resurfacing procedures have been performed worldwide.