Patent ID: 8273093

Claim:
A method for preparing an implant for implantation within a joint, the implant having a bone-engaging portion for implantation within a bone and a dialable component mounted to the bone-engaging portion, comprising the steps of: placing a bone-engaging portion of a trial implant within a bone of the joint; positioning a dialable component on the trial implant within the joint, wherein the dialable component is adjustable with respect to the bone-engaging portion about two orthogonal axes; locking the position of the trial dialable component relative to a pre-determined datum of the trial implant; removing the trial implant with the locked trial dialable component from the bone; supporting the removed trial implant with the locked trial dialable component within a jig with the datum in a predetermined orientation; recording an orientation of the dialable component about the two orthogonal axes relative to the datum of the bone-engaging portion of the trial implant wherein a jig records the orientation, wherein the recording step includes: fixing the bone-engaging portion of the trial implant within the jig; using the jig to guide an alignment tool to engage the dialable component of the trial implant; and locking the angular orientation of the alignment tool relative to the jig when the alignment tool is in engagement with the dialable component; and using the same jig, replicating the orientation for a dialable component of a final implant relative to the same datum of the final implant.