Apparatus and method for evaluating knee geometry

A method of evaluating a human knee joint which includes a femur bone, a tibia bone, a patella bone, and ligaments, wherein the ligaments are under anatomical tension to connect the femur and tibia together, creating a load-bearing articulating joint, the method comprising:

• inserting into the knee joint a gap balancer that includes a tibial interface surface, an opposed femoral interface surface, an array of tibial force sensors disposed on the tibial interface surface, and an array of femoral force sensors disposed on the femoral interface surface;
• providing an electronic receiving device;
• moving the knee joint through at least a portion of its range of motion;
• while moving the knee joint, using the electronic receiving device to collect data from the at least one force sensor, wherein the data includes information from the array of tibial force sensors and the array of femoral force sensors;
• processing the collected data to produce a digital geometric model of at least a portion of the knee joint;
• and
• storing the digital geometric model for further use.