Recent
advances in biomedical engineering software have opened
a new chapter
in
high performance
knee implants.
One remarkable breakthrough has
been the creation
of the JOURNEY knee,
a first-of-its-kind knee replacement that combines the stability and
natural motion of the human knee with new low-friction materials that
may extend the
life of
the implant.
While the lifespan of a knee implant
is heavily influenced
by the materials
used to make it, the natural feeling
of
the implant
during physical activity
is dependent upon
the way the patient's muscles,
ligaments and tendons
are addressed during surgery and by
the implant's
shape within the
body after surgery.
The knee is
a hinge joint, but it does not swing like a simple door hinge. It has
a complex rotational motion that you don't notice is there—but many patients
know when it's not there after total knee replacement. Traditional implants
do not accurately recreate this subtle
swing-
and-rotate action.
As
a result of these traditional designs, the muscles
and
ligaments around the new joint have to work
harder because the implant's
slightly unnatural shape
and resulting motion make these soft tissues
move in nfamiliar, stressful ways. This leads to joint pain,
muscle
fatigue and the unnatural feeling patients experience while walking or
bending in the months
after
their procedure.
The JOURNEY knee, on the other hand, is the only
knee implant
designed to reproduce the original internal shapes and angled forces of
the human knee through
its full range of motion—accommodating the swing-and-rotate
of
the joint with the same engineering principles your real knee currently uses.
Because of this, your soft tissues don't have to readjust to new shapes
and forces after surgery and your stride can return to its
natural rhythm.
The JOURNEY knee also reproduces the stability
provided by
your anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and
your posterior cruciate ligament
(PCL). Your ACL and PCL are key to the stability of your real joint and
contribute to natural motion when your knee is fully extended and fully
bent. No other knee implant reproduces both functions. |
