Patent ID: 8282685
Filing Date: 2012-10-09
Classification: A61B,A61F

Abstract:
1. A surgical method for implantation at an intersection of a femur, tibia and patella in a knee joint of a patient a partial or total knee prosthesis that includes at least a patellar implant and a femoral implant, the method comprising per-operatively performing the steps of: making an incision in the patient; engaging a tracer with selected locations of the knee joint proximate the intersection of the femur, the tibia, and the patella; recording in a computer data from the tracer relating to an anatomical geometry of the knee joint proximate the intersection of the femur, the tibia and the patella; identifying in the computer the partial or total knee prosthesis; displaying on the computer screen a virtual implantation of the patellar implant in the patella and the femoral implant in the femur in a sagittal plane passing through both the patella and the prosthetic femoral trochlea; displaying on the computer screen in the sagittal plane a theoretical trajectory of a patellar implant relative to engagement with the femoral prosthetic trochlea during flexion-extension of the partial or total knee prosthesis; evaluating on the computer screen the antero-posterior size of the femoral implant and patellar implant relative to the femur and the patella; modifying in the computer the virtual implantation of one or both of the patellar implant in the patella and the femoral implant in the femur in response to antero-posterior spacing between the femoral implant and the patellar implant as viewed in the sagittal plane until an optimal theoretical trajectory is displayed; recording in the computer information about the virtual implantation corresponding to the optimal theoretical trajectory, wherein the information about the virtual implantation comprises size and placement of the patellar implant and the femoral implant relative to the anatomical geometry of the knee joint obtained with the tracer; and implanting a partial or total knee prosthesis according to the virtual implantation recorded in the computer.