Movable knee implant and methods therefor
First Claim
1. A method of performing surgery on a patient'"'"'s knee, said method comprising the steps of making an incision in a knee portion of one leg of a patient, moving an implant through the incision into the knee portion of the one leg of the patient, positioning the implant between a distal end portion of a femur and a proximal end portion of a tibia in the one leg of the patient, and allowing the implant to move relative to both the femur and tibia in the one leg of the patient during bending of the one leg of the patient, wherein the implant is made of a biodegradable material.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An improved method of performing surgery on a joint in a patient'"'"'s body, such as a knee, includes making an incision in a knee portion of one leg while a lower portion of the one leg is extending downward from an upper portion of the one leg and while a foot connected with the lower portion of the one leg is below a support surface on which the patient is disposed. The incision is relatively short, for example, between seven and thirteen centimeters. A patella may be offset from its normal position with an inner side of the patella facing inward during cutting of a bone with a cutting tool. During cutting of the bone, one or more guide members having opposite ends which are spaced apart by a distance less than the width of an implant may be utilized to guide movement of a cutting tool.
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Citations
19 Claims
- 1. A method of performing surgery on a patient'"'"'s knee, said method comprising the steps of making an incision in a knee portion of one leg of a patient, moving an implant through the incision into the knee portion of the one leg of the patient, positioning the implant between a distal end portion of a femur and a proximal end portion of a tibia in the one leg of the patient, and allowing the implant to move relative to both the femur and tibia in the one leg of the patient during bending of the one leg of the patient, wherein the implant is made of a biodegradable material.
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15. A method of performing surgery on a patient'"'"'s knee, said method comprising the steps of:
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making an incision in a knee portion of one leg of a patient;
moving an implant through the incision into the knee portion of the one leg of the patient;
positioning the implant between a distal end portion of a femur and a proximal end portion of a tibia in the one leg of the patient;
deflecting the implant to change the implant'"'"'s configuration after positioning the implant between the distal end portion of the femur and the proximal end portion of the tibia; and
allowing the implant to move relative to both the femur and tibia in the one leg of the patient during bending of the one leg of the patient, wherein the implant is plastically deformed. - View Dependent Claims (14, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification