Published Articles

Normative Values for Daily Functional Recovery Patterns Following Total Knee Arthroplasty

May 30, 2024

CLICK HERE FOR ABSTRACT

Wearable devices provide the ability for clinical teams to continuously monitor patients’ rehabilitation progress with objective data. Understanding expected recovery patterns following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) enables prompt identification of patients failing to meet these milestones. The aim of this study was to establish normative values for daily functional recovery in the first 6 weeks after TKA using a wearable device.

Characterization of the Relative Change in Objective and Subjective Metrics by Baselining Patients Who Have Wearable Technology Before Total Knee Arthroplasty

April 09, 2024

CLICK HERE FOR ABSTRACT

Wearable sensors and associated supporting technologies (ie, patient applications) can provide both objective (joint position, step counts, etc.) and subjective data (ie, pain scores and patient-reported outcome measures) to track a patient’s episode of care. Establishing a subjective and objective baseline of a patient’s experience may arguably be beneficial for multiple reasons, including setting recovery expectations for the patient and demonstrating the effectiveness or success of the intervention.

Remote Monitoring using Wearable Technology after Knee Arthroplasty Using a Joint-Specific Wearable Device: A Prospective Cohort Study of 435 patients with 6 week follow up

May 16, 2023

CLICK HERE FOR ABSTRACT

As wearable devices become more sophisticated, their application in monitoring the post-surgical recovery curve following Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA) may be used to assist with rehabilitation and general care. While there is growing interest in this area, much of the research involves studies with small samples, non-pragmatic designs, and short monitoring periods. This study aims to characterize the progress and recovery kinetics of remote monitoring in the early post-TKA period, using many patients and across multiple surgeons and institutions.

White Papers

High patient satisfaction, satisfactory outcomes and substantial savings achieved by utilizing a hybrid remote monitoring + PT protocol to manage total knee arthroplasty patients

June 30, 2025

CLICK HERE FOR WHITE PAPER

Dr. James Chen, a private practice orthopedic surgeon, partnered with TracPatch Health to conduct a 10-patient clinical feasibility and economic analysis of a protocol that utilized wearable technology in conjunction with a reduced number of physical therapy sessions. The hybrid PT + remote monitoring protocol resulted in an average episode of care savings of $1900 dollars with similar patient recovery trajectories as a standard episode of care. Patients reported high satisfaction with the protocol and cited ease of use, reduced co-pays and time saved as the primary benefits of participating.

News

TracPatch in the News

David Jackiewicz David Jackiewicz

Characterization of the Relative Change in Objective and Subjective Metrics by Baselining Patients Who Have Wearable Technology Before Total Knee Arthroplasty

Characterization of the Relative Change in Objective and Subjective Metrics by Baselining Patients Who Have Wearable Technology Before Total Knee Arthroplas

Abstract

Background

Wearable sensors and associated supporting technologies (ie, patient applications) can provide both objective (joint position, step counts, etc.) and subjective data (ie, pain scores and patient-reported outcome measures) to track a patient’s episode of care. Establishing a subjective and objective baseline of a patient’s experience may arguably be beneficial for multiple reasons, including setting recovery expectations for the patient and demonstrating the effectiveness or success of the intervention.

Methods

In this pilot study, we characterized a subset of patients (n = 82 from 7 surgeons) using a wearable sensor system at least 6 days before total knee arthroplasty and provided postsurgical data up to 50 days postintervention. The 5-day average before surgery for total step counts (activity), achieved flexion and extension on a progress test (functional limit) and visual analog scale daily pain score were calculated. The difference from baseline was then calculated for each patient for each day postsurgery and reported as averages.

Results

On average, a patient will experience a relative deficit of 4,000 steps immediately following surgery that will return to near-baseline levels 50 days postintervention. A 30° deficit in flexion and a 10° deficit in extension will return at a similar rate as steps. Relative pain scores will worsen with an increase of approximately 3 points immediately following surgery. However, pain will decrease by 2 points relative to baseline between 40 and 50 days.

Conclusions

The results of this pilot study demonstrate a method to baseline a patient’s presurgical subjective and objective data and to provide a reference for postsurgical recovery expectations. Applications for these data include benchmarking for evaluating intervention success as well as setting patient expectations.

Read More