CBS New YorkDr. Karkare appeared on the evening news this week, in a segment about custom 3D printed knee joints used in total knee replacement and other custom knee replacement surgeries.

Here’s the video as it aired…

 

Here’s the transcription:

Announcer 1: In tonight’s Health Watch, do your knees crack and hurt when you walk? Maybe you’ve been told a knee replacement is your only option.

Announcer 2: But you also may have been told that you’re too young for a replacement because it won’t last long enough. CBS2’s Dr. Max Gomez is here to explain how 3D custom printed knees can help.

Dr. Max Gomez: That’s right. Although these days, knee replacements often last 20 years or more but many young people who need knee replacements because of trauma or disease were usually told live with your pain until you’re much older because you’ll eventually need another replacement when your first one wears out. 3D knees can change all that.

Narrator: If you look closely at Anastasia Halpin’s knee, you might see the scars from almost a dozen knee operations and procedures she’s had over the last 15 years. It started with a ski injury when she was a teenager.

Knee patient: I could no longer walk. It had gotten so bad. My meniscus had completely detached and progressively, over the next 15 years, I lost the ability to do just about anything without pain.

Narrator: Anastasia was told her only relief would come from a knee replacement, but she was way too young.

Knee patient: The excuse everyone gave me for 15 years was, “You’ll need another one later. We can’t do this. It’s a waste of time.”

Narrator: Then, she found Dr. Nakul Karkare who had begun using a new type of knee replacement that could last much longer because …

Dr. Karkare: The implant is customized to the native anatomy of the knee joint. This is the patient’s own knee that they’re getting back.

Narrator: Here’s how it works. From the CT scans, the iFit program generates a 3D model of the patient’s knee that’s used to print a 3D mold so that the custom prosthetic knee can be manufactured. Just as important, single-use custom tools and guides are printed that are made specifically for that patient, which means …

Dr. Karkare: As it is done in a less invasive manner, we don’t need to do extensive drilling.

Narrator: For Anastasia, it meant pain relief and getting her life back like.

Knee patient: I ran up the stairs the other day, and just to get to the top of the stairs. It’s like that didn’t hurt or I’ll squat down. I have a nine-year-old stepson and I’ll squat down to do something with him, and I’m not stuck.

Dr. Max Gomez: Now, Anastasia had also been told she couldn’t have babies because her pain meds would be bad for the fetus. She’s now 15 weeks pregnant. Now, we don’t know how long the custom knees will really last because they haven’t been around that long, but the hope is that it could be for decades.

The other thing that they’re good for is if you’ve got any sort of unusual anatomy and one side of the knee joint is a little higher than the other, custom make it to either correct that deformity or live with it so that it’s just perfect for you. Yeah.

Announcer 1: Wow, and last longer than the printer too, right?

Dr. Max Gomez: Well, a lot longer than the printer, hopefully longer than my printer will last.

Announcer 1: It’ll get all jammed up with stuff. Thank you, Doc. Great info.

Announcer 2: Thank you, Dr. Max.

Skip to content