NJ Hospital Uses New Kind of Knee Replacement Implant

Knee replacement surgery takes a leap into the future with the first every patient-specific knee implants. 

The new implants are called the iTotal ConforMIS implant which gained FDA approval last year.  The Saint Peters University Hospital in New Brunswick began offering the break through surgical option this summer.

Orthopedic Surgeon Don Polakoff says typically knee replacement patients are offered implants that come in a finite number of sizes.  He says while the implants have made great technological strides in relieving pain and restoring function, they haven't arrived to the point where it feels like a real joint.  "So for me the challenge is to see if I can come up with a knee replacement that not only eliminates pain but really feels like your own knee."

Dr. Polakoff says the iTotal knee replacement implants is a promising route in offering an implant that feels more natural.  He says "this is the only implant where the implant itself, not just the instruments are patient-specific."

Polakoff says over 600,000 knee replacement surgeries are performed in the United State annually and that number is soon expected to exceed 1 million.