Smith and Nephew launches new Journey II knee replacement

Smith and Nephew has announced the launch of its new Journey II cruciate retaining (CR) natural-motion knee replacement at an industry conference.

Introduced at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the device extends the use of the Journey II total knee system to procedures that preserve the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), which account for around half of all knee replacement operations.

It reproduces both the shapes of the joint's hard surfaces and the normal force behavior of the soft tissues, such as ligament and muscle firing patterns, minimising the soft tissue's readjustment after surgery and helping the patient to maintain a natural stride.

The device is also the first PCL-sparing total knee replacement designed to provide normal kinematics and increased patient satisfaction through Physiological Matching Technology.

Gaurav Agarwal, president of orthopaedic reconstruction at Smith and Nephew, said: "Since our customers choose a PCL-sparing device in approximately one-half of knee replacement cases, we expect the new Journey II CR to further drive adoption of the Journey II system."

This comes after the firm also unveiled its new Dyonics Plan hip impingement planning system at the conference in New Orleans.