Patient-specific knee alignment guide and associated method

A method of preparing a knee joint for a prosthesis in a patient, the method comprising:

• mating a patient-specific three-dimensional curved inner surface of a femoral alignment guide onto a corresponding three-dimensional femoral joint surface of the patient, the patient-specific three-dimensional curved inner surface preoperatively configured from medical scans of the knee joint of the patient;
• drilling a first hole into an anterior portion of the femoral joint surface through a corresponding first guiding aperture of the femoral alignment guide;
• and
• drilling a second hole into an anterior portion of the femoral joint surface through a corresponding second guiding aperture of the femoral alignment guide.

A method of preparing a knee joint for a prosthesis in a patient, the method comprising:

• mating a patient-specific three-dimensional curved inner surface of a femoral alignment guide onto a corresponding three-dimensional femoral joint surface of a patient, the patient-specific three-dimensional curved inner surface preoperatively configured from medical scans of the knee joint of the patient;
• drilling first and second holes into an anterior portion of the femoral joint surface through corresponding first and second guiding apertures of the femoral alignment guide, wherein the first and second guiding apertures are preoperative configured for locating a femoral resection of the patient according to the medical scans of the patient and a preoperative surgical plan for the patient;
• and
• inserting first and second guiding pins through the corresponding first and second guiding apertures and the first and second holes.