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First Smart Knee Implant in Birmingham By Jane ehrhardT
“We’re getting data on things we’ve never been able to measure before,” said Scott Appell, MD, the joint replacement surgeon who performed Birmingham’s first smart total knee replacement (TKR) in Birmingham at Surgical Institute of Alabama. The world’s first smart knee implant, the Persona IQ , is embedded with sensors and a telemetry system to allow for remote patient monitoring. Produced by Zimmer Biomet, the device automatically measures step count, average walking speed, stride length, and tibial range of motion. “How much a patient is doing and what kind of progress they’re making on a daily
basis is significant,” Appell said. The device collects measurements throughout the day, producing a wellspring of data for surgeons versus reliance on observed data during physical therapy for a few hours a week. Starting the second day after surgery, the device begins sending the readings. Using Bluetooth, it transmits the data to its home base, which is about the (CONTINUED ON PAGE 3)
Scott Appell, MD holds the smart knee implant.
Grandview First in Alabama to Perform New Targeted Therapy for Brain Tumors By Lauren Johnson
Left: The GammaTile is one inch by one inch and provides direct radiation. Right: A GammaTile is embedded into the operative cavity.
In March, Grandview Medical Center became the first hospital in Alabama to treat patients with brain tumors using Surgically Targeted Radiation Therapy (STaRT). This targeted therapy is for patients with newly diagnosed malignant brain tumors and recurrent brain tumors, including gliomas, glioblastomas, meningiomas, and brain metastases. Through this radiation therapy, a GammaTile is implanted into the operative cavity within the last five minutes of brain tumor removal surgery, provid-
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ing direct radiation that will delay brain tumor regrowth while protecting healthy brain tissue. The GammaTile is a small white tablet, about the size of a postage stamp, that has titanium bars that will be radioactive for about 60 days. Over time, the white portion of the tile will resorb naturally, leaving the tiny pieces of titanium behind. Surgeons will typically implant one to four of these tiles in the operative cavity. Usually, patients would need to wait two to four weeks before receiving traditional radiation after surgery, and they (CONTINUED ON PAGE 6)
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