Patent ID: 8419741

Claim:
A method of facilitating surgical preparation of a particular patient's distal femur to receive a femoral implant, the femoral implant including an articular surface, the method comprising: (a) receiving pre-operative data related to the particular patient defining at least a portion of a three-dimensional tissue contacting geometry of a surgical instrument, the surgical instrument including a surgical tool guide, wherein the received pre-operative data is based on (i) a pre-operatively determined three-dimensional geometry of the distal femur, (ii) at least one cartilage surface of the distal femur pre-operatively defined relative to the three-dimensional geometry of the distal femur, and (iii) a pre-operatively planned spatial arrangement of the femoral implant defining a spatial arrangement of the surgical tool guide relative to the distal femur; and (b) manufacturing the surgical instrument using the received pre-operative data, thereby configuring the surgical instrument based on the received pre-operative data to mount to the particular patient's distal femur in a pre-defined spatial arrangement relative to the at least one cartilage surface of the distal femur, wherein manufacturing the surgical instrument includes manufacturing the three-dimensional tissue contacting geometry and the surgical tool guide, such that the surgical tool guide is in a pre-defined spatial arrangement relative to the three-dimensional tissue contacting geometry.