Patent ID: 7857821

Claim:
A computer assisted total knee replacement surgery system comprising: a positioning block including a portion fastenable to a bone element and defining a reference surface thereon, the positioning block including a cutting tool guide operatively engageable with a cutting tool, the cutting tool guide being displaceable relative to the reference surface of said portion of the positioning block in at least three degrees of freedom, the three degrees of freedom comprising two rotational degrees of freedom and one translation degree of freedom; the positioning block including a trackable member in communication with the computer assisted surgery system, the computer assisted surgery system being operable to determine at least an orientation of the cutting tool guide of the positioning block relative to the bone element based on at least one of a position and orientation of the trackable member in space; the positioning block, in conjunction with the computer assisted surgery system, being operable to identify at least a desired orientation of the cutting tool guide relative to the bone element, such that at least one of the reference surface and the cutting tool guide is disposed in the desired orientation relative to the bone element whereby the cutting tool, guided by the cutting tool guide, is operable to create a cut in the bone element at the desired orientation; and a display for indicating when the desired orientation of the cutting tool guide is reached, wherein the display indicates actual orientation of the cutting tool guide and indicates when the desired orientation of the cutting tool guide is reached.