Shanghai, China – From October 31 to November 4, MicroPort® Orthopedics invited Professor David Blaha, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Michigan Health System, to attend the Medial Pivot Knee Roadshow activities. As the inventor of Evolution™ Medial Pivot Knee System ("Evolution™"), Professor Blaha used his professional knowledge and clinical experience to help the attendees get a better understanding in the cutting-edge technologies and development trend of total knee replacement through lectures and expert consultation.
On October 31, Professor Blaha visited Guangzhou Overseas Chinese Hospital and exchanged ideas with Professor Zhenggang Zha, Vice President of the hospital, and his team regarding medial pivot knees. Professor Blaha explained the rational of medial pivot knee based on the kinematic mechanics of a natural knee, and discussed "patient satisfaction" – the key to a successful knee replacement, with experts in attendance. Afterwards, Professor Blaha visited Foshan Hospital of TCM, Zhongshan Hospital of TCM, and the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou TCM University, and was engaged in group discussion and case consultation events in these hospitals. The surgeons spoke highly of Professor Blaha's lectures for its unique views and critical logic, which helped enhance their understanding in the design rationale of medial pivot knee as well as their confidence in the application of medial pivot knee.
On November 2, Professor Blaha attended the academic salon hosted by Chongqing Joint Surgery Society. The salon, focusing on the hot issues of the joint replacement field, gathered joint replacement experts and outstanding young surgeons from top hospitals in Chongqing. It was chaired by Professor Liu Yang of the First Hospital Affiliated to AMU, and hosted by Professor Lin Guo of the First Hospital Affiliated to AMU. Professor Wei Huang of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University delivered the opening speech. During the salon, Professor Blaha gave a lecture in which he emphasized that knee prosthesis designs require restoring the normal knee kinematics, ligament tension and alignment by the stability attributed to the high geometrical congruency. In this way, total knee replacement will bring better post-operative experience for patients.
This salon also invited Professor Chuan He of Ruijin Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University to share the application of medial pivot knee in Asians. Professor Chuan He presented on the features of medial pivot knee in terms of prosthesis design and surgical techniques based on Chinese people's physiological characteristics. In his report, he released the results of a study comparing patients using medial pivot knee and traditional prosthesis, which shows patients with medial pivot knees reported better results in knee flexion and daily activities such as going up and down stairs compared to patients with traditional prosthesis.
Aside from the survey of patients, Professor Lin Guo shared the results of gait analysis of patient respectively with medial pivot knees and traditional prosthesis. The analysis showed the patients in the medial pivot group activated their quadriceps to a lesser extent for all the ramp and level walking conditions compared to the traditional design group, which demonstrates the improvement of the quadriceps efficiency. This is why patients with medial pivot knees are more satisfied with their surgical outcome.
During the free talk session of the salon, experts aired their views and understanding in medial pivot knee. They recognized the design rationale and clinical performance of medial pivot knee, such as stability, bone conservation and the patellofemoral joint design, and raised questions about how to deal with the soft tissue balance when using medial pivot knee. Professor Blaha gave specific answers to these questions.
In the following days, Professor Blaha attended the Third Annual Meeting of Shanghai Association of Orthopedic Surgeons at the invitation of Shanghai Association of Orthopedic Surgeons. Professor Blaha said, the main aim of knee replacement is to restore the natural knee movement and both the prosthesis design and surgical technique should serve for that goal. Currently, over 20% of patients are not satisfied with the outcome of their total knee replacement as the mainstream traditional prosthesis cannot duplicate the movement of a natural knee. Medial pivot knee is expected to answer such limitations and improve patient satisfaction.
Professor Blaha has been engaged in studying knee biomechanics for 40 years with rich experience in biomechanics of orthopedic implant and prosthesis design. In 1980s, he started to design prosthesis that can restore the movement of a natural knee. In early 1990s, his determination led to the first prototype of the medial pivot knee. In 1998, after the approval of US Food and Drug Administration, the first-generation ADVANCE® Total Knee Replacement System was launched in the US. Based on the success of ADVANCE® knee, Professor Blaha designed the second-generation EVOLUTION™ Medial Pivot Total Knee Replacement System in 2010. Up to date, more than 550,000 medial pivot knees have been implanted globally. According to a study evaluating long-term clinical and radiographic outcomes of the medial pivot knee system published in The Knee, the results demonstrate excellent clinical outcomes for both satisfaction (95%) and survivorship (98.8%) at 17 years with patients noting a great sense of stability and comfort during regular activities.
It is expected that the academic exchange activities of Professor Blaha will help domestic orthopedic surgeons get a better understanding in the advantages of medial pivot knee. Zixin Weng, President of MicroPort® Orthopedics China, said: "We will continue to host academic activities to provide a platform for domestic and overseas knee replacement experts to exchange ideas, so as to help promote the development of China's joint surgery industry and provide patients with better orthopedic solutions."