Soft tissue balancing in articular surgery
AssigneeZimmer, Inc.
InventorsPierre Couture, Alain Richard, Olivier Boisvert, Emily Gogarty, Louis-Philippe Amiot, Sebastien Parratte, Di Li
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods may be used to perform robot-aided surgery. A system may include a robotic controller to monitor a position and orientation of an end effector coupled to an end of a robotic arm. The robotic controller may apply a force to a bone using the end effector, such as via a soft tissue balancing component. The robotic controller may determine soft tissue balance using information from a tracking system, such as a position of a first tracker affixed to the bone. The soft tissue balance may be output, such as to a display device.
Claims30
A robot-aided surgical system comprising:
- a tracking system including a first tracker affixed to a bone of a patient, the tracking system configured to track movement of the bone;
- a robotic controller to:
- monitor a position and orientation of an end effector coupled to an end of a robotic arm;
- apply a force to the bone using the end effector;
- determine soft tissue balance using information from the tracking system including a position of the first tracker affixed to the bone;
- and
- output the soft tissue balance.
A robot-aided surgical system comprising:
- a tracking system including a first tracker affixed to a bone of a patient, the tracking system configured to track movement of the bone;
- a robotic controller to:
- monitor a position and orientation of an end effector coupled to an end of a robotic arm;
- apply a force to the bone using a soft tissue balancing component coupled to the end effector, the soft tissue balancing component configured to transfer force from the end effector to the bone;
- and
- determine soft tissue balance using information from the tracking system including a position of the first tracker affixed to the bone and force information from a force sensor coupled to the robotic arm;
- and
- a display device to display an indication of the soft tissue balance including a tension of at least one ligament connecting the bone to a second bone or an angle of rotation of the bone relative to the second bone.
A robot-aided knee arthroplasty system comprising:
- a leg holder to affix anatomy of a patient during an arthroplasty procedure;
- an end effector of a robotic arm to couple to a femur of the knee joint with a soft tissue balancing component that permits the femur to freely rotate while coupled to the end effector;
- a robotic controller to:
- cause the robotic arm to apply a pulling force to the femur to increase a gap distance between the femur and a tibia of the knee joint;
- measure the gap distance between the femur and the tibia and a rotation of the femur;
- and
- store, when the gap balance is equal to a predetermined gap distance, the rotation of the femur as a target femoral implant rotation;
- and
- a surgical planning system to plan a position and orientation of a resection such that inserting a femoral implant on the femur causes the femur to achieve the target femoral implant rotation.
At least one machine-readable medium including instructions for performing robot-aided surgery, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
- cause a robotic arm to apply a pulling force to a femur, using a soft tissue balancing component coupled to the femur such that the femur freely rotates, to increase a gap distance between the femur and a tibia of the knee joint;
- measure the gap distance between the femur and a tibia and a rotation of the femur;
- and
- calculate a target femoral implant rotation using the rotation of the femur, when the gap balance is equal to a predetermined gap distance;
- store the target femoral implant rotation;
- and
- plan, using a surgical planning system, a position and orientation of a resection such that inserting a femoral implant on the femur causes the femur to achieve the target femoral implant rotation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.