Joint laxity measurement
First Claim
1. A method for measuring parameters relating to stability of joints in a patient'"'"'s body, each joint including a reference portion, closest to the body and a relative portion, movable relative to the reference portion, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) securing said reference portion to a fixed location;
(b) performing a soft tissue compensation procedure by applying forces to said reference portion to thereby determine the amount of reference portion motion, in the soft tissue surrounding the reference portion, due to said forces;
(c) applying a variety of forces to the relative portion and measuring the total motion of the reference and relative portions associated with said forces;
whereby, by subtracting the motion determined in b from the motion determined in c, to determine motion of only said relative portion relative to said reference portion.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for measuring parameters relating to the stability of joints in a patient'"'"'s body includes the steps of securing a reference portion of the joint (that portion of the joint closest to the body) to a fixed location. A three dimensional digitization of the size, shape, position and coordinate system of the two portions is performed. A soft tissue compensation procedure is performed by applying forces to the reference portion of the joint to thereby determine the amount of reference portion motion, in the soft tissue surrounding the reference portion, due to these forces. A variety of forces are applied to the relative portion of a joint, which is movable relative to the reference portion thereof, and the total motion of the reference and relative portions associated with the forces are measured. By subtracting the motion determined in the soft tissue compensation from motion as determined by applying a variety of forces, the motion of only the relative portion relative to the reference portion is determined.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method for measuring parameters relating to stability of joints in a patient'"'"'s body, each joint including a reference portion, closest to the body and a relative portion, movable relative to the reference portion, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) securing said reference portion to a fixed location; (b) performing a soft tissue compensation procedure by applying forces to said reference portion to thereby determine the amount of reference portion motion, in the soft tissue surrounding the reference portion, due to said forces; (c) applying a variety of forces to the relative portion and measuring the total motion of the reference and relative portions associated with said forces; whereby, by subtracting the motion determined in b from the motion determined in c, to determine motion of only said relative portion relative to said reference portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for measuring parameters relating to the stability of the knee joint in a patient'"'"'s body, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) seating said patient in an examination chair; (b) securing to said chair the thigh of said patient'"'"'s leg which includes the knee joint to be examined; (c) performing a soft tissue compensation procedure by applying forces to the femur of said knee joint to thereby determine the amount of femoral motion, in the soft tissue surrounding the femur, due to said forces; (d) applying a variety of forces to the tibia of said knee joint and measuring the total tibial plus femoral motion; whereby, by subtracting the femoral motion from the total femoral plus tibial motion associated with respective forces, to determine tibio/femoral motion of said joint. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification