TAMPA, Fla. — Knee replacements have not changed much in the last decade, but a smart device is now getting added into certain knee replacements to help patients immensely post surgery.

What You Need To Know

  • Smart Knee medical device is a small attachment that fits into a knee replacement. It sits in the hollow part of a patient's tibia

  • A patient then can track progress on a mobile app. The doctor can also see this data to help with recovery

  • Dr. Steve Lyons with AdventHealth said he has done roughly 60 of the Smart Knee replacements to date

Raymond Hewitt shows the long scar down the middle of his knee while at AdventHealth Carrollwood.

“The incision is right here,” said Hewitt. 

He has had two knee replacements to date. One in January 2022, and a second in May 2023. 

“With the first knee, it’s like it feels good, it feels a little better, but with this one I am able to actually see, what I am walking, what my stride is, what my cadence is now. How many steps I have actually taken,” said Hewitt. 

He knows all the data with the second knee because a Smart Knee medical device was attached to his total knee replacement. 

“This snaps into the bottom of a knee replacement, and this makes the total knee smart,” said Dr. Steve Lyons with AdventHealth Carrollwood, who is an orthopedic surgeon at Florida Orthopedic Institute.

Lyons did Hewitt’s knee replacement and said while the success rate of knee replacements is the same, the post-op has been improved immensely because of this smart device. 

“This has really been an eye-opening experience to show us little things that matter in patients’ lives that we may not have recognized as surgeons,” said Lyons. 

The device attaches to the bottom of the Persona Total Knee. It then fits into the hollow part of a person’s tibia bone. 

“It gives us real kinematic data on what patients are truly doing, so you can tell me that you are doing fine, but I can see that you are doing really well, or not so well,” said Lyons. 

The data is transmitted to the patient’s phone via an app. 

“I feel that is has improved my lifestyle immensely,” said Hewitt. 

Lyons said he has done roughly 60 of the Smart Knee replacements to date. He encourages patients in need of a knee replacement to ask their doctor if they would be a good candidate.