A system and method for allowing any surgeon, including those surgeons who perform a fewer number of a replacement procedure as compared to a more experienced surgeon who performs a greater number of procedures, to provide an improved likelihood of a favorable outcome approaching, if not exceeding, a likelihood of a favorable outcome as performed by a very experienced surgeon with the replacement procedure. Force sensing is included to aid in quantifying installation of an implant, particularly a cup into a pelvic bone.

The invention primarily relates to fastening and stabilizing tissues, implants, and/or bondable materials, such as the fastening of a tissue and/or implant to a bondable material, the fastening of an implant to tissue, and/or the fastening of an implant to another implant. This may involve using an energy source to bond and/or mechanically to stabilize a tissue, an implant, a bondable material, and/or other biocompatible material. The invention may also relate to the use of an energy source to remove and/or install an implant and/or bondable material or to facilitate solidification and/or polymerization of bondable material.

Disclosed herein are joint implants and methods for tracking joint implant performance. A method for monitoring a joint implant performance may include coupling a first implant to a first bone of a joint, the first implant including at least one magnetic marker. Coupling a second implant to a second bone of the joint, the second implant including at least one magnetic sensor to detect a position of the magnetic marker. Performing a first joint stress test to measure a baseline joint stability value, the baseline joint stability value being generated by the at least one magnetic sensor. Performing a second joint stress test to measure a second joint stability value, the second joint stability value being generated by the at least one magnetic sensor. Determining joint stability of the joint by comparing the baseline joint stability value to the second joint stability value.

A computing system having at least one sensor, at least one processor, and at least one memory including a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the at least one processor, causes the computing system to receive one or more surgical parameters associated with a ligament balancing of a patient's joint, receive real-time sensor data generated by the at least one sensor and indicative of at least one characteristic of the patient's joint, and apply machine learning to determine a next ligament balancing step of the ligament balancing of the patient's joint based on the one or more surgical parameters and the real-time sensor data, wherein the next ligament balancing step is a step of one or more steps intended to result in a target state of the patient's joint identified by the machine learning.

Embodiments may include an attachable fastener, which may include a bondable material that may be secured to the end of an end effector. Vibration may be tuned to occur at a distal end of the fastener. Accordingly, the fastener may be used to generate heat at a distal point of contact. If the contact surface contains bondable material, that material may be softened. If the fastener includes bondable material at the point of contact, that material may also be softened by heat produced by vibration at the contact area. A hard implant or another polymeric material may function as the anvil.

A system and method for intra-operatively measuring or verifying the placement of an implant within a bone in joint arthroplasty procedures are described herein. Pre-operative bone data of the patient is collected. A user plans the position of one or more implants relative to the pre-operative bone data. Intra-operatively, the patients bone is registered to the pre-operative bone data and to a computer-assist device. The bone is prepared and a physical implant is installed with the bone. A plurality of points are digitized on at least one of the physical implant or an apparatus associated with the physical implant. The computer-assist device calculates any errors between the planned position and orientation (POSE) of the implant relative to the actual POSE of the physical implant using the digitized points. The system may further notify a user of any errors and provide instructions to minimize the errors.

Disclosed herein is a joint implant including a first implant coupled to a first bone of a joint, and a second implant coupled to a second bone of the joint and contacting the first implant. The second implant can include a plurality of sensors configured to measure data and a processor operatively coupled to the plurality of sensors and adapted to receive the data from the sensors. The first implant can be a femoral implant coupled to a femur. The second implant can be a patellar implant coupled to a patella. Sensor data from the patellar implant can indicate movement between the femoral implant and the patellar implant and identify patella condition such as a patellar rotation, patellar tilt and patellar tendonitis.

A system and method for allowing any surgeon, including those surgeons who perform a fewer number of a replacement procedure as compared to a more experienced surgeon who performs a greater number of procedures, to provide an improved likelihood of a favorable outcome approaching, if not exceeding, a likelihood of a favorable outcome as performed by a very experienced surgeon with the replacement procedure. Force sensing is included to aid in quantifying installation of an implant, particularly a cup into a pelvic bone.

Therapeutic devices configured to be worn by an individual to apply compression, vibration, and/or heat to cartilage tissue at one or more joints of the individual. The individual dons the therapeutic device so that therapeutic units of the therapeutic device are located in proximity to the cartilage tissue, and electrical power is supplied to a control system and to the therapeutic units to operate and control each of the therapeutic units individually and simultaneously to selectively apply the compression, vibration, and/or heat to the cartilage tissue.

A testing apparatus for evaluating a medical implant for electric potential oscillations that lead to corrosion. The testing apparatus uses a uniaxial load device having a mounting base for accepting a medical implant and orienting the implant along a predetermined axis, a support plate positioned under the uniaxial load device and moveable to apply a force to the implant, a load cell positioned above the mounting plate to measure the force applied to the implant, and a set of differential variable reluctance transducers positioned to measure motion of the implant. A chamber encloses the uniaxial load device so that the implant can be submerged in a fluid replicating human synovial fluid. A faraday cage surrounds the chamber for isolation from environmental electromagnetic radiation. An array of near field antenna are positioned circumferentially around the chamber and driven by a multi-frequency generator.