Device and method for determining force of a knee joint

An orthopaedic surgical device comprising:

• a planar sensor housing shaped to be positioned in a knee joint of a patient;
• a handle coupled to the planar sensor housing and extending therefrom;
• a plurality of pressure sensors positioned in the planar sensor housing and configured to generate sensor signals indicative of a joint force of the knee joint;
• a first display coupled to the handle;
• a processor electrically coupled to the plurality of pressure sensors;
• and
• a memory device having stored therein a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to control the first display to provide a visual indication of the joint force of the knee joint.

An orthopaedic surgical device comprising:

• a tibial paddle shaped to be positioned between a patient's proximal tibia and distal femur;
• a sensor array positioned in the tibial paddle, the sensor array including (i) a plurality of medially located pressure sensors configured to generate sensor signals indicative of a medial force between the patient's tibia and femur and (ii) a plurality of laterally located pressure sensors configured to generate sensor signals indicative of a lateral force between the patient's tibia and femur;
• a handle secured to the tibial paddle, the handle include a top housing and a bottom housing;
• a first plurality of light emitting diodes secured to an end of the top housing of the handled,
• a second plurality of light emitting diodes secured to an end of the bottom housing of the handle;
• and
• a circuit positioned in the handle, the circuit configured to activate at least one light emitting diode of each of the first and second plurality of light emitting diodes based on the sensor signals to provide a visual indication of the balance between the medial force and the lateral force between the patient's tibia and femur.

A joint distractor for distracting a patient's knee joint, the distractor comprising:

• a cradle configured to receive and secure a sensor module;
• a first distractor component movably coupled to a first side of the cradle, the first distractor component having a first tibial paddle and a first femoral paddle that extend from the first distractor component in an outwardly direction to repetitively contact the tibial paddle of the sensor module and a distal end of a femur of a patient, the first femoral paddle movable with respect to the first tibial paddle to define a first displacement between the patient's tibia and femur;
• a second distractor component movably coupled to a second side of the cradle, the second distractor component having a second tibial paddle and a second femoral paddle that extend from the second distractor component in the outwardly direction to repetitively contact the tibial paddle of the sensor module and the distal end of a femur of a patient, the second femoral paddle movable with respect to the second tibial paddle to define a second displacement between the patient's tibia and femur;
• wherein the first distractor component and the second distractor component are movable with respect to the cradle in the outwardly direction to permit selectively extending one of the distractor components beyond the other distractor component in the general direction of extension.