Patent ID: 6827721
Filing Date: 2004-12-07
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
A method for the determination of reduction parameters for the subsequent adjustment of a reduction device to reduce the fragments of a fractured bone, comprising the steps of;(a) comparing the contour of a first bone on a first side of a patient's body with respect to a corresponding second bone on the opposite side of the patient's body, wherein the first bone is a non-fractured bone and the second bone is a fractured bone; (b) determining the positions of a first set of at least three non-collinear points on the first bone, and establishing a three-dimensional coordinate system with respect to the body of the patient; (c) determining the positions of a second set of at least three non-collinear points on the second bone within the coordinate system, wherein the second set of points corresponds to the first set of points; (d) establishing a plane of symmetry by dividing vectors between each point of the first set and its corresponding point of the second set in two parts, and defining central points of the vectors which define at least three points of the plane of symmetry within the coordinate system; (e) generating a mirror image of the first bone symmetrically to the plane of symmetry by determining the positions of a third set of at least three non-collinear points on the first bone at each section corresponding to a fragment of the second bone and by forming the mirror image of the first bone by determining the positions of a fourth set of at least three non-collinear points that are symmetrical to the third set of points with respect to the plane of symmetry; (f) determining the positions of a fifth set of at least three non-collinear points on the second bone at each fragment section, wherein the fifth set of points corresponds to the third set of points on the first bone; and (g) determining the reduction parameters by comparing the different positions of the fifth set of points on the second bone with the positions of the fourth set of points within the mirror image.