Patent ID: 8197487

Claim:
An alignment system for aligning a reaming guide during insertion into a cavity of a bone, the bone having a resected surface, the cavity defining a cavity axis, the system comprising: a reaming guide comprising an elongate stem portion having a stem axis and a neck portion extending from the stem portion at an incline with respect to the stem axis; and an alignment instrument comprising: a handle defining a handle axis, the handle releasably couplable to the reaming guide such that the axis of the handle is in a predetermined relationship with the stem axis; and a plane finder comprising a surface defined by a plane that intersects the handle axis at an angle having a predetermined relationship with the angle at which the resected surface intersects the cavity axis; a mounting bracket attached to the handle; a shaft attached to the mounting bracket; and wherein the plane finder is slidable on the shaft relative to the mounting bracket when the stem portion is partially inserted into the cavity from a first position in a direction generally parallel to the handle axis to a second position whereat the plane finder engages the resected surface.