FAYETTEVILLE — Washington Regional Medical Center recently became the first hospital in Arkansas to offer total knee arthroplasty, or knee replacement surgery, using the Persona IQ® Smart Knee. The new implant produced by Zimmer Biomet is the first of its kind and is equipped with sensor-based technology to provide patients and their physician with information that can be used to improve outcomes following joint replacement surgery.

“The stem of this smart knee implant captures data about the function of the knee, such as the patient’s range of motion, step count, walking speed and stride length,” Hanby said. “This is the first implant that’s capable of telling us how the patient is doing following surgery which helps us make sure the knee implant is functioning properly. This information aides in recovery by providing patients with the peace of mind that their new knee is working as it should and will alert us if there is a problem that needs to be addressed.”

Patients and their physician can view data from the Persona IQ® using a special care management platform.

While a wide range of total joint replacement patients may be candidates to receive the Persona IQ® Smart Knee, Hanby says it may be particularly beneficial for younger patients.

“Initially, I think the Persona IQ will be implanted in more younger patients who we want to see have the longest lifespan with their artificial knee. But as the technology becomes more mainstream, I believe we’ll see it become the standard type of artificial knee in the coming years.”

The total knee arthroplasty was performed using Zimmer Biomet’s ROSA® Knee System, a state-of-the-art robotic technology that helps surgeons personalize joint replacement procedures for each patient for enhanced precision. Washington Regional became the first hospital in Northwest Arkansas to use the system in 2020.