Digital Joint Laxity Planning for Balanced Knee Arthroplasty
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Solution Overview
Problem
Inadequate soft tissue balancing during total knee arthroplasty (TKA) procedures leads to knee instability and suboptimal long-term patient satisfaction due to the lack of personalized surgical workflows for correcting soft tissue imbalance in the sagittal, coronal, and axial planes.
Innovation Solution
A computer-based method and system for digitally adjusting joint laxity using multiple distraction force options and personalized surgical planning, incorporating patient-specific movement-related data and ligament stiffness to optimize bone cuts and implantation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If mechanical alignment method is used with standardized bone cuts, then surgical procedure is simplified and can be performed uniformly, but soft tissue balancing becomes inadequate and knee instability occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from uniform mechanical alignment to patient-specific customized alignment plans. Each patient receives a personalized surgical plan that accounts for their unique anatomy and soft tissue characteristics, allowing local optimization of bone cuts and component positioning to achieve proper soft tissue balance while maintaining procedural efficiency through computer guidance.
2Productivity
If soft tissue release is performed based on surgeon experience, then the procedure is quick to perform, but the subjectivity leads to suboptimal soft tissue balance and patient satisfaction
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates real-time feedback mechanisms where intraoperative measurements of soft tissue gaps and tensions are continuously monitored and fed back to the surgical plan. The computer system adjusts bone cut recommendations and component positioning based on actual soft tissue response, enabling precise objective control while maintaining surgical efficiency through automated calculations and guidance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary soft tissue assessment and simulation before actual bone cuts are made. Virtual surgical planning allows the system to predict soft tissue balance outcomes and optimize the surgical plan in advance, reducing the need for extensive intraoperative soft tissue releases and improving precision before the surgeon begins cutting bone.
3Productivity
If standardized bone cuts are made in every knee, then surgical workflow is efficient and consistent, but unique patient characteristics and deformities are not addressed
Solution Approach 1:
The system combines standardized efficient workflow with dynamic adaptability through computer-guided real-time decision making. The surgical plan is initially standardized for efficiency but can be dynamically adjusted based on intraoperative findings, patient-specific anatomy, and soft tissue measurements. The computer system processes patient-specific data and provides customized guidance while maintaining the overall efficiency of a structured surgical workflow.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is provided for facilitating the implantation of an implant during a surgical procedure. The method includes obtaining bone registration data for a first bone member and a second bone member of a patient's joint, and acquiring patient-specific movement-related data during the procedure after the joint is subjected to at least one movement with a first predefined distraction force applied throughout a continuous range of motions. A distraction force model is used to conduct a joint gap simulation based on predefined ligament stiffness data, the movement-related data at the first distraction force, and at least one simulation distraction force value, resulting in joint gap simulation data. A surgical plan model utilizes the joint gap simulation data and bone registration data to generate a patient-specific intra-operative surgical plan comprising at least one surgical cut parameter. The method further includes cutting the first and/or second bone member based on the surgical plan to facilitate implant implantation.