Patient-specific knee alignment guide and associated method

A femoral alignment guide for preparing a knee joint for a prosthesis in a patient comprising:

• a patient-specific three-dimensional curved inner surface preoperatively configured from medical image scans of the knee joint of the patient to nestingly conform and match with a corresponding three-dimensional femoral surface of a femur of the patient in only one position;
• an exterior surface opposing the inner surface;
• and
• at least one guide aperture passing through the inner surface and the exterior surface, wherein the at least one guide aperture is configured to form an opening in a perimeter of the femoral alignment guide so as to be only partially surrounded by the femoral alignment guide.

A femoral alignment guide for preparing a knee joint for a prosthesis in a patient comprising:

• a patient-specific three-dimensional curved inner surface preoperatively configured from medical image scans of the knee joint of the patient to nestingly conform and match with a corresponding three-dimensional femoral surface of a femur of the patient in only one position;
• an exterior surface opposing the inner surface;
• a first guide aperture passing through the inner surface and the exterior surface, wherein the femoral alignment guide is configured to position the first guide aperture at a distal portion of the femoral surface when the femoral alignment guide is positioned on femur;
• and
• a second guide aperture passing through the inner surface and the exterior surface, wherein the second guide aperture is configured to form an opening in a perimeter of the femoral alignment guide so as to be only partially surrounded by the femoral alignment guide, and wherein the femoral alignment guide is configured to position the second guide aperture at one of an anterior or anterior-medial portion of the femoral surface when the femoral alignment guide is positioned on the femur.

An orthopedic system for preparing a knee joint for a prosthesis in a patient comprising:

• a femoral alignment guide, comprising:
• a patient-specific three-dimensional curved inner surface preoperatively configured from medical image scans of the knee joint of the patient to nestingly conform and match with a corresponding three-dimensional femoral surface of a femur of the patient in only one position;
• an exterior surface opposing the inner surface;
• and
• at least one guide aperture passing through the inner surface and the exterior surface, wherein the at least one guide aperture is configured to form an opening in a perimeter of the femoral alignment guide so as to be only partially surrounded by the femoral alignment guide;
• and
• one or more pins configured to be received by the at least one guide aperture and penetrate the femur, wherein the at least one guide aperture is configured to allow for removal of the femoral alignment guide from the femur without removing the one or more pins from the femur.