New hip device will assist surgeons with procedural navigation

Johnson & Johnson Medical has partnered with Australian startup Navbit to launch Navbit Sprint — an innovative device that can assist surgeons to place and align the acetabular cup, a component that is inserted into the hip socket during joint replacement surgery. The single-use device uses smartphone-like GPS technology to provide real-time feedback to the surgeon on the position of the cup throughout the procedure.

Navbit CEO and co-founder Lynette Walter said, “We could see a real opportunity to make surgical technologies more like the devices we use at home. All our design decisions are driven by surgeons’ insights — as a surgeon-led organisation, we understand the real challenges they might face during hip replacement procedures. We are proud and excited to be partnering with Johnson & Johnson Medical, giving us the opportunity to reach more surgeons and supporting them in providing scalable and accessible solutions to their customers.”

More than 40,000 hip replacement surgeries are performed in Australia every year,¹ with 6.3% of these cases requiring revision surgery within 10 years.²

Despite advances in technique, accuracy of cup placement remains variable due to factors such as the anatomy of the pelvis, stiffness of the spinopelvic area, functional positions of the pelvis, its position at set-up and movement during surgery, reference frames used and the way angles are measured.³

Research shows half of acetabular cup implants fail to achieve their target orientation,⁴ with hip dislocation remaining the second most common cause of failure.⁵

Orthopaedic surgeon and Navbit co-founder Professor Bill Walter said that even though existing hip-navigation technologies can help surgeons achieve better alignment of the cup to the pelvic socket, they are seldom used in practice.

“Existing hip-navigation technologies tend to be cumbersome and complicated. However, we do know that cup position is very important. Published data tells the story clearly: half of all acetabular cups aren’t correctly aligned, which increases the risk of hip dislocation, hip joint wearing out and discomfort following the surgery, which can all have detrimental effect on patients’ quality of life. Achieving the right alignment without technology is actually quite difficult, even for the most highly trained surgical eye,” Professor Walter said.

Navbit Sprint has been included on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) following assessment by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and granted a CE Mark. This means it can be used by surgeons in Europe, the United States and Australia.

Johnson and Johnson Medical ANZ Managing Director Sue Martin welcomed the partnership.

“We see this partnership as a great opportunity to support an Australian medical innovation, while at the same time bringing a doctor- and patient-centric solution to the market,” she said.

“Navbit is the ideal partner, as they share our commitment to reimagine the way health care is delivered and to help people live longer, healthier lives.”

Navbit Sprint is available now to orthopaedic surgeons throughout Australia.

References

1. Reported Hip Procedures, Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry, Available at: https://aoanjrr.sahmri.com/hips, Accessed in February 2021.
2. Hip, Knee & Shoulder Arthroplasty Annual Report 2019, Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry, Available at: https://aoanjrr.sahmri.com/documents/10180/689619/Hip%2C+Knee+%26+Shoulder+Arthroplasty+New/6a07a3b8-8767-06cf-9069-d165dc9baca7, Accessed in February 2021.
3. Current Concepts in Acetabular Positioning in Total Hip Arthroplasty, Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5525519/, Accessed in February 2021.
4. The John Charnley Award: Risk Factors for Cup Malpositioning. Quality Improvement Through a Joint Registry. at a Tertiary Hospital, Mark C. Callanan MA, Bryan Jarrett BS, Charles R. Bragdon PhD, David Zurakowski PhD, Harry E. Rubash MD, Andrew A. Freiberg MD, Henrik Malchau MD, PhD, Published online: 18 August 2010.
5. Reported Hip Procedures, Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry, Available at: https://aoanjrr.sahmri.com/hips.