Patient-specific knee alignment guide and associated method

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

• a distal cutting block;
• first and second guiding pins;
• and
• a femoral alignment guide having 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 mate and match only in one position to a corresponding three-dimensional femoral surface of a joint surface of the patient, the femoral alignment guide having a first guiding hole corresponding to an anterior portion of the femoral surface, and a second guiding hole corresponding to an anterior portion of the femoral surface, wherein the first and second guiding holes each have an open perimeter only partially surrounded by the femoral alignment guide so as to form an open portion, the first and second guiding holes being configured to allow removal of the femoral alignment guide by sliding the femoral alignment guide off the first and second guiding pins through the open portions, wherein the first and second guiding holes are preoperatively configured on the femoral alignment guide for drilling corresponding first and second holes on the femoral surface with the first and second guiding pins to support the distal cutting block on the first and second guiding pins and guide a patient-specific distal planar resection of the femoral surface through the distal cutting block after the femoral alignment guide is removed.