Biomet Brings Personal Approach to Partial Knee Replacements

Biomet Orthopedics is bringing a bit of individuality to partial knee replacements. The Warsaw, Ind.-based implant manufacturer launched its Signature Personalized Patient Care System at the 2012 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Calif.

Designed for use with the company’s Oxford Partial Knee System, the Signature system enables surgeons to preoperatively plan a knee replacement surgery and precisely place implants by using custom positioning guides.

“With Signature and the Oxford Partial Knee, surgeons now have state-of-the-art technology for patients undergoing partial knee replacement surgery,” said Michael Berend, M.D., with the Center for Hip & Knee Surgery at St. Francis Health Hospital – Mooresville in Indianapolis, Ind.

Biomet’s Oxford Partial Knee System is designed to help surgeons preserve and restore normal knee function and movement by replacing only the medial, diseased compartment of the knee. During this process, surgeons use the Signature system to create custom femoral and tibial surgical positioning guides that help achieve optimal joint implant positioning. The Oxford Partial Knee procedure removes about 75 percent less bone and cartilage when compared to a total knee replacement and allows patients to recover more rapidly with less postoperative pain, according to Biomet.

The Oxford Partial Knee is designed for people with osteoarthritis or avascular necrosis limited to the medial compartment of the knee. Implanted with bone cement, the Oxford Knee is not used in the lateral compartment of the knee. Potential risks include, but are not limited to, loosening, dislocation, fracture, wear, and infection, any of which can require additional surgery.

Biomet executives claim the company is one of the first orthopedic implant firms to provide surgeons advanced tools to create custom femoral and tibial positioning guides for use in both total and partial knee replacement. Introduced in 2008, the Signature system has been used in more than 41,000 knee surgeries to date. By combining this technology with the Oxford Partial Knee (the world’s most clinically successful partial knee, with survivorship of 92.3 percent at 20 years, according to the company), Biomet provides surgeons and patients the advanced technology necessary to deliver a higher level of personalized care in partial knee replacement surgery, executives said.