Method of estimating soft tissue balance for knee arthroplasty

Abstract

A method is provided for evaluating the tension or laxity of the soft tissue surrounding a patient's knee joint. Based on this evaluation, a surgeon may determine a desired resection depth for a knee arthroplasty procedure that will achieve an appropriate spacing between adjacent, articulating components of the knee joint.

1 . A method of performing an arthroplasty procedure on a patient's knee joint, the knee joint including a femur and a tibia, the method comprising:
 obtaining preoperatively a three-dimensional model of the patient's knee joint, the three-dimensional model based on at least one of a MRI, CT and X-ray image of the patient's knee joint;   determining preoperatively an initial resection depth for a femoral prosthesis;   capturing the rotation of the patient's femur relative to the tibia in response to a directed force applied to the patient's knee joint;   adjusting the initial resection depth based on the captured rotation to determine an actual resection depth; and   
       resecting the patient's femur according to the actual resection depth.