Companies see a future for smart implants. Doctors are waiting for proof. (MedTechDive)
Zimmer Biomet and Canary Medical are rolling out the first knee implant with an integrated sensor. But it will take time to figure out how to incorporate that data into patient care.
If a knee talks, who’s listening?
That’s the question facing orthopedic surgeons and rehab physicians as they learn to work with a new knee replacement that incorporates sensors and processors to send data about how the joint works from deep inside the patient’s body.
It’s one of a growing number of devices sending data to physicians to help them monitor their patients, including continuous glucose monitors and wearables to monitor for heart arrhythmia. With this influx of information, medtech companies are still ironing out how to make the data useful for doctors.
“This field is still very nascent,” said Jay Pandit, a cardiologist and the director of digital medicine for the Scripps Research Translational Institute in San Diego, noting that physicians simply haven’t got time to look at the raw data now flooding in from wearables — and soon from implantable devices.
Data still are far from being ...
