New type of artificial knee, designed for individual patients, is being implanted at St. Joseph East in Lexington

Saint Joseph East hospital in Lexington is Kentucky’s first hospital to offer a customized total knee replacement system in which each the knee implant is made to match the individual patient’s anatomy, says a news release from ConforMIS, manufacturer of the implants. So far, about 20 patients in Lexington have received the ConforMIS total-knee replacement surgery, says the release.

“With this new technology, we’re able to offer an implant that is molded to each individual patient precisely,” said Wallace Huff of Bluegrass Orthopaedics, part of KentuckyOne Health, which includes Saint Joseph. “We’re seeing patients healing faster and more easily acclimating to the new knee.”

Typically, knees are replaced due to osteoarthritis and its breakdown and eventual loss of cartilage of one or more joints. Unlike traditional knee replacements, the ConforMIS system uses technology to design and manufacture knee implants for each individual patient, so less bone is removed during the surgical procedure. This provides the potential for faster recovery from the surgery.