Assessing the condition of a joint and devising treatment
AssigneeThe Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
InventorsPhilipp Lang, Daniel Steines
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods are disclosed for assessing the condition of a cartilage in a joint, particularly a human knee. The methods include converting an image such as an MRI to a three dimensional map of the cartilage. The cartilage map can be correlated to a movement pattern of the joint to assess the affect of movement on cartilage wear. Changes in the thickness of cartilage over time can be determined so that therapies can be provided. Information on thickness of cartilage and curvature of cartilage or subchondral bone can be used to plan therapy. Information on movement pattern can be used to plan therapy.
Claims109
A method of creating an implant for treating joint disease, which method comprises:
- obtaining from image data of a damaged or diseased joint information about the three-dimensional geometry of the joint, including at least one of normal articular cartilage, diseased articular cartilage, and subchondral bone;
- creating a three-dimensional electronic model of at least a portion of the joint including at least one of normal articular cartilage, diseased articular cartilage, and subchondral bone, wherein the model includes a geometry of at least a portion of an articular surface of the joint;
- and
- creating an implant based on the three-dimensional model, wherein at least a portion of said implant has an outer articular surface derived from the geometry of at least a portion of the articular surface of the joint.
A method of creating an implant for treating joint disease, which method comprises:
- obtaining from image data of a damaged or diseased joint information about the three-dimensional geometry of the joint, wherein the information includes information on a thickness of normal articular cartilage;
- creating a three-dimensional electronic model of at least a portion of the joint wherein the model includes a geometry of at least a portion of an articular surface of the joint;
- and
- creating an implant having an outer articular surface, the implant based at least in part on the geometry of the model and a thickness derived at least in part based on the thickness of the normal articular cartilage.
A method of forming a physical model for repairing a joint which method comprises:
- obtaining from image data of a damaged or diseased joint information about the three-dimensional geometry of subchondral bone of the joint;
- creating a three-dimensional electronic model of the geometry of at least a portion of the joint, including at least a portion of the subchondral bone;
- and
- forming a physical model having an outer articular surface based at least in part on the geometry of the subchondral bone of the three-dimensional electronic model.
A method of creating a device for treating an articular joint, which method comprises:
- deriving from image data of a damaged or diseased joint a geometry of at least a portion of a surface of subchondral bone of the joint;
- creating a three-dimensional electronic model of the geometry of at least a portion of the joint including the at least a portion of the subchondral bone surface;
- and
- creating a physical model having an outer articular surface configured from at least a portion of the three-dimensional electronic model of the geometry of the surface of the subchondral bone.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.