A system for computer-assisted orthopedic surgery and configured for performing joint preserving and cartilage restoration procedures comprising: a means for providing a three-dimensional osteo-cartilaginous model; at least one tracked tool (120, 150, 500) that is configured to acquire cartilage data, the at least one tracked tool being selected from the group consisting of a 3D tracked ultrasound probe, a 3D tracked pointer, a 3D tracked arthroscope, a 3D tracked calibrated endoarticular optical coherence tomography probe, a 3D tracked endoarticular infrared probe, a tracked endoarticular interferometric non-destructive laser imaging system, a 3D tracked endoarticular fluorescent imaging system; at least one acquisition and treatment instrument that is operably coupled to the computer system and which is navigated based on the 3D model; and a computer system that is configured to: (a) extract at least two morphological parameters from the acquired cartilage data, the at least two parameters being indicative of a quality (health) of the cartilage and being selected from the group consisting of a shape of a border of a cartilage defect, a depth of the defect, a volume of the defect, a theoretical thickness which is measured as a height of the remaining healthy cartilage surface, a texture or surface characterization of the cartilage, roughness of the cartilage, pathological vascularization, a biomechanical property, an area ratio, or a detection of flaws in the cartilage, (b) incorporate the at least two parameters into the 3D model; (c) compute and display a synthetic cartilage quality score, wherein the synthetic cartilage quality score is a function of the at least two parameters; (d) continuously update the 3D model and the score in real-time as the procedure progresses. a means for providing a three-dimensional osteo-cartilaginous model; at least one tracked tool (120, 150, 500) that is configured to acquire cartilage data, the at least one tracked tool being selected from the group consisting of a 3D tracked ultrasound probe, a 3D tracked pointer, a 3D tracked arthroscope, a 3D tracked calibrated endoarticular optical coherence tomography probe, a 3D tracked endoarticular infrared probe, a tracked endoarticular interferometric non-destructive laser imaging system, a 3D tracked endoarticular fluorescent imaging system; at least one acquisition and treatment instrument that is operably coupled to the computer system and which is navigated based on the 3D model; and a computer system that is configured to: (a) extract at least two morphological parameters from the acquired cartilage data, the at least two parameters being indicative of a quality (health) of the cartilage and being selected from the group consisting of a shape of a border of a cartilage defect, a depth of the defect, a volume of the defect, a theoretical thickness which is measured as a height of the remaining healthy cartilage surface, a texture or surface characterization of the cartilage, roughness of the cartilage, pathological vascularization, a biomechanical property, an area ratio, or a detection of flaws in the cartilage, (b) incorporate the at least two parameters into the 3D model; (c) compute and display a synthetic cartilage quality score, wherein the synthetic cartilage quality score is a function of the at least two parameters; (d) continuously update the 3D model and the score in real-time as the procedure progresses. (a) extract at least two morphological parameters from the acquired cartilage data, the at least two parameters being indicative of a quality (health) of the cartilage and being selected from the group consisting of a shape of a border of a cartilage defect, a depth of the defect, a volume of the defect, a theoretical thickness which is measured as a height of the remaining healthy cartilage surface, a texture or surface characterization of the cartilage, roughness of the cartilage, pathological vascularization, a biomechanical property, an area ratio, or a detection of flaws in the cartilage, (b) incorporate the at least two parameters into the 3D model; (c) compute and display a synthetic cartilage quality score, wherein the synthetic cartilage quality score is a function of the at least two parameters; (d) continuously update the 3D model and the score in real-time as the procedure progresses.