A method and apparatus for distracting a joint during a procedure are disclosed. The apparatus can include bone engaging portions and an articulating bearing. The bone engaging portions can engage the bone and then the articulating portions can allow joint motion. The method can use the apparatus to perform a procedure with the apparatus.

A dynamic trialing method generally allows a surgeon to perform a preliminary bone resection on the distal femur according to a curved or planar resection profile. With the curved resection profile, the distal-posterior femoral condyles may act as a femoral trial component after the preliminary bone resection. This may eliminate the need for a separate femoral trial component, reducing the cost and complexity of surgery. With the planar resection profile, shims or skid-like inserts that correlate to the distal-posterior condyles of the final insert may be attached to the distal femur after the preliminary bone resection to facilitate intraoperative trialing. The method and related components may also provide the ability of a surgeon to perform iterative intraoperative kinematic analysis and gap balancing, providing the surgeon the ability to perform necessary ligament and/or other soft tissue releases and fine tune the final implant positions based on data acquired during the surgery.

A dynamic trialing method generally allows a surgeon to perform a preliminary bone resection on the distal femur according to a curved or planar resection profile. With the curved resection profile, the distal-posterior femoral condyles may act as a femoral trial component after the preliminary bone resection. This may eliminate the need for a separate femoral trial component, reducing the cost and complexity of surgery. With the planar resection profile, shims or skid-like inserts that correlate to the distal-posterior condyles of the final insert may be attached to the distal femur after the preliminary bone resection to facilitate intraoperative trialing. The method and related components may also provide the ability of a surgeon to perform iterative intraoperative kinematic analysis and gap balancing, providing the surgeon the ability to perform necessary ligament and/or other soft tissue releases and fine tune the final implant positions based on data acquired during the surgery.

Disclosed is an instrument for balancing a knee. The instrument has a first plate (10) coupled to a second plate (50) by a plurality of adjusters (152A, 152B, 152C). The adjusters are actuatable to vary the gap between the first and second plates. Each adjuster is coupled to the second plate by a joint having at least two degrees of freedom. Also disclosed is an outrigger (300). The outrigger includes a body featuring a connection component configured to be received and held by a slot (34) of the instrument. The slot is arranged to align a blade of a surgical saw with a portion of a knee to be cut. Also disclosed is a method of balancing a knee using the instrument and a method of fabricating the instrument.

Methods and apparatus for performing joint laxity measurement are disclosed. A retractor includes a plurality of spacers, such as plates, that are capable of being moved from a central portion of the retractor by a carriage mechanism. In some cases, the carriage mechanism may press against ramps connected to internal sides of the plates, thereby causing the plates to be displaced outwardly. In other cases, the carriage mechanism may include blades that rotate and press against the internal sides of the plates, thereby causing the plates to be displaced outwardly. The retractor is mounted on a surgical device configured to actuate the carriage mechanism. When the retractor is placed in a joint and the carriage mechanism is actuated, a measurement of the joint laxity may be determined based upon characteristics of the retractor and/or the surgical device.

The disclosure provides a patella joystick for tilting a knee cap in an operation of knee arthroscopy and a method of using the patella joystick. The patella joystick can include a handle, a shank, a tapered portion, and a screw portion. The tapered portion has a diminishing diameter and provides a structural transition between the shank and the screw portion. The screw portion can include a thread and a screw point. The thread can have a buttress form, and the screw point can have an inverted cone shape with a cone angle of at or about 90°. The method of using the patella joystick can include: drilling a pilot hole into the patella; screwing the patella joystick onto the pilot hole; and holding the patella joystick to tilt and/or lift the knee cap.

A system is disclosed to support installation of a prosthetic joint or a prosthetic component. The system includes at least one sensor to measure a parameter. The system uses one or more patient specific instruments in conjunction with a tensor to make one or more bone cuts. The patient specific instruments and tensor make the bone cuts such that an installed prosthetic joint is aligned, balanced, loaded correctly, and positioned optimally for performance and reliability. The use of the tensor simplifies the workflow required when using the patient specific instruments. In one embodiment, the patient specific instruments are bone cutting jigs configured for the patient anatomy.

An orthopedic instrument for knee arthroplasty includes an anterior-posterior sizer assembly, a tensor assembly and a rotation mechanism. The sizer assembly includes a stylus, a sizer body including medial and lateral posterior feet extending substantially perpendicularly from the sizer body, and a sizer slider that can slide relative to the sizer body along a medial-lateral direction relative to a patient's knee. The tensor assembly includes a tensor frame having a central portion, medial and lateral wings extending at an angle from the central portion, and medial and lateral posterior feet extending substantially perpendicularly to the central portion. The rotation mechanism includes a portion coupled to the tensor frame of the tensor assembly and a portion coupled to the sizer body. The rotation mechanism is configured to rotate the medial and lateral posterior feet of the sizer body relative to the tensor frame toward a lateral side of the patient's knee.

A method for assessing a joint includes inserting a joint distraction lever into a space between a first bone and a second bone of the joint, distracting the joint with the joint distraction lever, determining, using a measurement device of the joint distraction lever, a distraction force applied by the joint distraction lever as the joint distraction lever is used to distract the joint, determining whether the distraction force matches a predetermined amount of the distraction force, and in response to determining that the distraction force matches the predetermined amount of the distraction force, capturing first poses of the first bone and the second bone.

An arrangement for the preparation of the proximal surface of the tibia for a tibia component of a prosthetic knee joint, wherein the arrangement includes a preparation plate that assists in defining a reference plane. A cutting guide arrangement includes an indicator that provides orientation for a cutting blade or saw to cut the final bone resection of the proximal surface of the tibia the same as the reference plane. There is also a mounting arrangement between the joint liner and the cutting guide arrangement, so that in a first mounting position the indicator of the cutting guide is aligned with the same referenced plane defined by the underside of the joint liner and wherein the mounting arrangement also provides a second mounted position wherein the indicator of the cutting guide is aligned with the same referenced plane orientation of the underside of the joint liner but below the initial resected proximal surface of the tibia where the final resection of bone will take place.