Smith &Nephew plc has always touted its Visionaire knee replacement system, claiming the product's patient-matching technology provides consumers with custom-fit implants that rival their old joints.

Now, finally, the company has proof to support its rhetoric. A study publishedin The Journal of Arthroplasty concluded that surgeries using patient-matched instruments (such as those included in Smith & Nephew's Visionaire system) produced implants that were a full degree closer to neutral - the body's natural alignment - than those which used traditional instruments. The accurate placement of an implant has long been considered and shown to reduce implant wear and improve longevity, according to Smith &Nephew.

"Patient-matched technology is driving a shift in thinking for our entire industry," Scott Elliott, senior vice president of Smith &Nephew's Global Knee Franchise, said in a news release. "This study shows that Visionaire patient-matched technology improves outcomes for patients, simplifies the operating room experience for surgeons and pulls cost out of the healthcare system."

Surgeons using the Visionaire system scan magnetic resonance and X-ray images of the patient's knee into an advanced web-based software program, which generates virtual images of the affected joint. Smith &Nephew then designs and builds surgical instruments and guides (including specific bone cuts) to align the company's Journey or Legion implants to the patient's knee.

In addition to improving alignment, the Journal study concluded that patient-matched implant technology:

• Reduces the amount of time a patient spends under anesthesia;
• Shortens hospital stays; and
• Reduces the length of the surgical incision required for knee replacements.

Other benefits of patient-matched technology, according to Smith & Nephew, include minimizing blood loss and cutting the risk of infection after surgery. The company also claims its Visionaire system also can help reduce hospital expenses because it eliminates more than 20 surgical steps for each procedure and reduces the number of required instrument trays by 43 percent. Those savings translate into reduced sterlization costs and better operating room efficiency.