Knee tensioner with digital force and displacement sensing

A tensioner tool for assessing laxity of a joint including first and second bones, the tensioner tool comprising:

• a first component comprising:
• a pair of arms moveable between a compressed configuration for insertion between the first and second bones and an expanded configuration for distraction of the first and second bones in response to a force applied to at least one of the pair of arms, wherein a tip distance between insertion tips formed on the pair of arms is greater in the expanded configuration than in the compressed configuration;
• and
• a force sensor coupled to one of the pair of arms and configured to collect force data related to the applied force;
• a second component comprising:
• an on-board processor;
• and
• an on-board non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
• receive the force data from the force sensor;
• and
• calculate, based on the force data, a distraction force exerted to the first and second bones by the insertion tips;
• wherein:
• the first component is releasably and communicatively coupled to the second component;
• the first component is configured for sterilization;
• and
• the second component is configured to be disposable.

A tensioner tool for assessing laxity of a joint including first and second bones, the tensioner tool comprising:

• a first component comprising:
• a pair of arms moveable between a compressed configuration for insertion between the first and second bones and an expanded configuration for distraction of the first and second bones in response to a force applied to at least one of the pair of arms, wherein a tip distance between the insertion tips is greater in the expanded configuration than in the compressed configuration;
• a force sensor coupled to one of the pair of arms and configured to collect force data related to the applied force;
• and
• a positional sensor configured to collect separation data related to a separation distance between the pair of arms;
• a second component comprising:
• an on-board processor;
• and
• an on-board non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
• receive the force data from the force sensor,
• calculate, based on the force data, a distraction force exerted to the first and second bones by the insertion tips,
• receive the separation data from the positional sensor, and
• calculate the tip distance based on the separation data,
• wherein:
• the first component is releasably and communicatively coupled to the second component;
• the first component is configured for sterilization;
• and
• the second component is configured to be disposable.