Daniel Wert has had both knees replaced. While the procedures took place several years apart, the difference in his experiences is best described as night and day.
“I could not believe the difference between the first knee replacement and the second,” Daniel said.
His first knee replacement was not done at Blessing in May 2020. The second procedure was done at Blessing in September 2024 by board certified and fellowship trained orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine physician, Darr Leutz.
“I wanted to try to go to someone in town,” Daniel said. “A friend of mine had her knee done. She said it was great and she wished she would have done it sooner. I asked her who she went to and she told me Dr. Leutz.”
When Daniel met with Dr. Leutz, he learned about the Velys robotic-assisted system, technology that would help improve the experience of his knee replacement.
Velys’s key features include optical trackers that communicate with a high-speed camera, and a robot-assisted device that Dr. Leutz uses to remove damaged bone with exceptional accuracy.
The trackers are placed on the problem knee and communicate with the camera. This creates a 3D, real-time model of the patient’s knee. During the procedure, the data is updated continuously, enhancing the precision of the incisions made, and the balance of the replaced knee as the procedure progresses.
A knee replacement lacking proper balance and alignment leads to joint stiffness and instability.
“Velys helps me in resurfacing the bone with incredible precision, and with a balanced knee virtually every time, thanks in part to direct feedback from the robot,” Dr. Leutz said.
Additional benefits of Velys include less time in surgery, lower levels of pain due to greater precision, and a quicker return to normal function and everyday activities.
“All that is because Velys allows us to provide the patient with a game-changing level of surgical precision, and in the alignment and balance of their new knee,” the doctor concluded.
“I’m telling you, he isn’t kidding,” Daniel said. “I was off pain medication in four days, much shorter than with my first knee replacement. And physical therapy went very well. The crew at Advance Physical Therapy could not believe how well I did.”
“I was very pleased with Blessing Hospital and with Dr. Leutz. Everything seemed to go really fast with my robotic-assisted knee replacement,” Daniel concluded.
Dr. Leutz adds that the advances in knee replacement outcomes are not “surgeon-specific.”
“I saw a patient recently whose left knee I replaced 10 years ago with manual instrumentation,” the doctor said. “I replaced his right knee in 2024 using the Velys robotic-assisted technology. He has no pain, full motion and described the difference as ‘amazing’ between the manual replacement and the one I did in 2024, the same things Mr. Wert said, but Mr. Wert’s experience was with two different surgeons. In this recent case it was the same surgeon – me - caring for the same patient who had a different experience overall thanks to Velys.”
For more information on Blessing Health’s joint replacement care, go to blessinghealth.org/ortho.