Patent ID: 8858557

Claim:
A method of preparing a femur and tibia in surgery on a knee joint using a navigation system and a robotic system comprising a base, a plurality of arms movable relative to the base, and a cutting tool coupled to the plurality of arms so that the cutting tool is capable of movement in at least five degrees of freedom, said method comprising the steps of: arranging the navigation system to track movement of the femur and tibia during the surgery; cutting away material from the femur with the cutting tool of the robotic system and without the use of physical resection guides wherein the navigation system cooperates with the robotic system to provide information associated with a position of the femur to the robotic system; and cutting away material from the tibia with the cutting tool of the robotic system and without the use of physical resection guides wherein the navigation system cooperates with the robotic system to provide information associated with a position of the tibia to the robotic system, wherein the navigation system enables separate tracking of the femur and tibia so that the positions of the femur and tibia can be determined when the femur and tibia move during the surgery.