❖ THE PROBLEM:
Total Knee Replacement (TKR), is one of the most commonly performed orthopaedic procedures, reaching >4M cases per year.
Even though TRK nowadays is a routine procedure, and numbers have doubled in the last 15 years, still 20 to 30% of patients are dissatisfied with their results and 6.2% of them will require a TKR revision in the following 10-years.
Furthermore, the lack of systematic follow-ups and rehabilitation monitoring impacts on the comprehension on long-term TKR results.
Although the orthopaedic market is a continuously growing market, the biomedical “Total Knee Replacement” (TKR) industry has been static and stationary for many years, regarding material evolution, design, surgical procedures and surgical recovery. Current knee implants are designed for any patient without considering the specific patient’s anatomy. As a result, many implants are larger or smaller than the patient knee, which at the end of the day generates lots of problems after the surgery and affects the patient quality of life for years.
❖ IMPORTANCE FOR SOCIETY:
Currently, more than 242 M people in the world suffer from Osteoarthritis (OA), a degenerative joint disease that occurs when the cartilage or cushion between joints breaks down leading to pain, stiffness, and swelling.
Even though OA can affect any joint, it happens most often in knees and hips . Thus, nowadays knee OA alone accounts for more than 80% of the disease’s total burden, and 50% of OA cases.
While at short-term, the disease may result in instability, stiffness or imbalance; at medium & longterm, when OA knee proceeds, it triggers the degeneration of articulations. In these cases, the most effective intervention is a knee replacement to
reduce pain and restore function and mobility.
❖ BD-KNEE PROJECT OBJECTIVES:
BD-KNEE is a “patient specific” holistic solution that provides personalized knee replacement (commercially known as YOURKNEE) and surgery recovery follow-up through:
- The analysis of the patient`s anatomy, the implant design and surgery simulation based on patient's anatomy data, thanks to BD-KNEE ICT platform & software
- The production of a patient specific implant by a novel 3D printing technology (EBM-AM)
- The delivery of specific surgical tools and computer assisted surgical tools (Smart Perseus by Orthokey) for a personalized surgery, through three surgery devices connected to the ICT platform & software
- A knee smart-sensor band to monitor the surgery recovery and patient rehabilitation
❖ BD-KNEE VALUE PROPOSITION:
1. Surgical Time Reduction (10 minutes during set-up in the operating room, valued at €300 (€30/min), plus 10 minutes during surgery, valued at € 600 (€60/min)).
2. Blood Loss Reduction, saving up to €100 for each patient per transfusion.
3. Infection Risk Reduction, based on time saving of >10%
4. Faster Rehabilitation due to personalized implant and surgery recovery monitoring
5. Early detection of abnormalities through monitoring during recovery and potentially early intervention
6. Cost Saving for hospitals estimated in €2,200/patient (from avoiding costs associated with complications,
infection rate and hospital stay).
7. Reduction of implant-related errors and waste in TKR (from 5% to 0%)
