Patent ID: 8394104

Claim:
A method of operating a ligament balancer during the performance of an orthopaedic surgical procedure, the method comprising: determining a first force value based on a first electrical output signal indicative of a force applied to at least one of a medial femoral paddle and a lateral femoral paddle of the ligament balancer, displaying the first force value on a user interface positioned on a housing of the ligament balancer, the housing being coupled to at least one of the medial femoral paddle and the lateral femoral paddle, receiving a first user input via the user interface, storing, in response to receiving the first user input, a digital representation of the first force value in a memory device located in the housing, receiving a second user input via the user interface, retrieving, in response to receiving the second user input, the digital representation of the first force value from the memory device of the ligament balancer, generating a second electrical output signal indicative of a force applied to at least one of a medial femoral paddle and a lateral femoral paddle of the ligament balancer, determining a second force value based on the second electrical output signal, and generating a control signal to operate an actuator to move at least one of the medial femoral paddle and the lateral femoral paddle until the second force value is substantially equal to the first force value, wherein the control signal is generated by a controller located in the housing.