Orthopedic leg alignment system and method
AssigneeHowmedica Osteonics Corp.
InventorsRyan M. Chapman, Doug W. Van Citters, Gordon Goodchild
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An orthopedic measurement system system includes a tri-axial gyroscope configured to measure movement of a leg. The gyroscope can be placed in an insert or tibial prosthetic component that couples to the tibia. The gyroscope may be used to measure alignment relative to the mechanical axis of the leg. The leg alignment measurement may be performed by putting the leg through a first leg movement and a second leg movement. The gyroscope outputs angular velocities on the axes that the sensor is rotated about. The gyroscope may be coupled to a computer that calculates the alignment of the leg relative to the mechanical axis from the gyroscope measurement data.
Claims18
A method of measuring leg alignment, comprising:
- moving a leg through at least one first movement;
- generating measurement data corresponding to the at least one first movement via a measurement system including a tibial stem inserted into a tibia of the leg;
- using the measurement data corresponding to the at least one first movement, determining a first angle included in a triangle formed by a first line extending from a hip joint of the leg to a knee joint of the leg, a second line extending from the knee joint to an ankle joint of the leg, and a third line extending from the hip joint to the ankle joint, wherein a first length of the first line and a second length of the second line are determined using one or more images of the leg;
- using the first angle, determining an alignment measurement of the leg;
- and
- displaying the alignment measurement of the leg on a display.
A method of measuring leg alignment, comprising:
- moving a leg through at least one movement;
- generating measurement data corresponding to the at least one movement via a measurement system coupled to the leg;
- obtaining a measured length of a bone of the leg;
- using the measurement data corresponding to the at least one first movement and the measured length of the bone, determining an alignment measurement of the leg;
- and
- displaying the alignment measurement of the leg on a display.
A method of measuring leg alignment, comprising:
- moving a leg through at least one first movement including rotating the leg about a joint line of the leg;
- generating measurement data corresponding to the at least one first movement via a measurement system included in a permanent prosthetic knee joint coupled to the leg;
- using the measurement data corresponding to the at least one first movement, determining a first alignment measurement of the leg, wherein the first alignment measurement is a sagittal plane knee angle;
- and
- displaying the first alignment measurement of the leg on a display.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.