METHOD FOR IMPROVED ROTATIONAL ALIGNMENT IN JOINT ARTHROPLASTY
First Claim
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1. A method of determining the rotational alignment axis of bone joints involving a first and a second bone, comprising:
- tracking the position of a third bone with reference to the first or the second bone;
obtaining a trajectory of the third bone, wherein the trajectory is generated by the movement of the bone joint; and
calculating an axis of alignment of the first or second bone at the joint using the relative movement of the third bone with reference to either the first or the second bone.
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Abstract
A method for improved rotational alignment of the bones in joint surgery is described. The method involves the tracking of the relative motion of a third bone in with respect to the movement of the first and second bone. In one aspect of the invention, the motion of the patella is used to derive the axis of rotation of the femoral and tibial components in total knee arthroplasty, either alone or in combination with other techniques.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method of determining the rotational alignment axis of bone joints involving a first and a second bone, comprising:
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tracking the position of a third bone with reference to the first or the second bone; obtaining a trajectory of the third bone, wherein the trajectory is generated by the movement of the bone joint; and calculating an axis of alignment of the first or second bone at the joint using the relative movement of the third bone with reference to either the first or the second bone. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of determining the rotational alignment axis of the femur at the knee joint, comprising:
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tracking the position of the patella within the femoral groove as the joint is flexed or extended, using a tracker attached to the patella; obtaining the trajectory of the patella with reference to the femoral groove as the knee is flexed or extended; and calculating the axis of rotational alignment of the femur at the knee joint from data indicating a curve of motion of the patella by fitting an appropriate function to the data. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of determining the rotational alignment axis of the tibia at the knee joint, comprising:
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tracking the position of the patella with reference to the tibia as the joint is flexed or extended, using a tracker attached to the patella; obtaining the trajectory of the patella with reference to proximal end of the tibia as the knee is flexed or extended; and calculating the axis of rotational alignment of the femur at the knee joint from data indicating a curve of motion of the patella by fitting an appropriate function to the data. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A computerized bone tracker system comprising:
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a bone tracker adapted to be attached to a bone, wherein the bone is connected to a first bone and a second bone; a computer system capable of tracking the movement of the bone tracker, wherein the computer system comprises a sensor, a data processing unit and a display unit and the computer system obtains a trajectory of the bone tracker as the bone tracker tracks the movement of the bone it is attached to and calculates an axis of rotational alignment of the first or second bone at the joint using the relative movement of the bone with reference to either the first or the second bone. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A computer-implemented method for generating a rotational alignment axis of bone joints involving a first and a second bone, comprising:
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computing a first rotational alignment axis according to a first arthroplasty technique; obtaining a second rotational alignment axis computed according to a second arthroplasty technique; and combining the first and second axes to generate a third rotational alignment axis of the first or second bone at the joint. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification