Systems and methods for joint replacement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9339226-B2
Application number	US-201113011815-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 21, 2011
Priority date	Jan 21, 2010
Publication date	May 17, 2016
Grant date	May 17, 2016

Abstract

Systems and methods for joint replacement are provided. The systems and methods include a surgical orientation device, a reference sensor device, and at least one orthopedic fixture. The surgical orientation device, reference sensor device, and orthopedic fixtures can be used to locate the orientation of an axis in the body, to adjust an orientation of a cutting plane or planes along a bony surface, or otherwise to assist in an orthopedic procedure(s).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of determining an anatomical feature during a knee procedure, comprising:
coupling an orientation system with a distal aspect of a femur, the orientation system comprising a housing, a first orientation sensor and a second orientation sensor disposed within the housing, and a user interface operably coupled with the first orientation sensor and the second orientation sensor;
wherein the first orientation sensor is selected from the group of sensor types consisting of: gyroscopic sensor, accelerometer sensor, tilt sensor, and magnetometer, and the second orientation sensor is selected from the group of sensor types consisting of: gyroscopic sensor, accelerometer sensor, tilt sensor, and magnetometer;
wherein the first orientation sensor is a different sensor type than the second orientation sensor;
estimating a first error associated with the first orientation sensor based in part upon the output of the second orientation sensor;
estimating a second error associated with the second orientation sensor based in part upon the output of the first orientation sensor;
moving the orientation system to collect data indicative of the anatomical feature relevant to the knee procedure; and
reducing error from the data.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the second error includes estimating static bias in the second orientation sensor.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein estimating static bias further comprises maintaining the position of the orientation system for a minimum period.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, at the end of the moving step, returning the orientation system toward the position of the orientation system prior to the beginning of the moving step.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the orientation system is configured to determine whether the user has returned the orientation system to a position that is approximately the same as the position of the orientation system prior to the beginning of the moving step.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the orientation system comprises a filter with a minimum threshold to prevent a false stop indication.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the moving step comprises moving in a loop configuration to collect data indicative of the anatomical feature relevant to the knee procedure.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the moving step produces abduction of at least about 20 degrees while moving in the loop configuration.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first orientation sensor includes an accelerometer and estimating the first error includes estimating a gravity component of the accelerometer output.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising determining, based upon a portion of the accelerometer output excluding the gravity component, the orientation of one or more of the housing and the femur.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
coupling an orthopedic orientation assembly with the femur, the orthopedic orientation assembly comprising a reference device and the orientation system;
maintaining the position of the reference device relative to the femur while moving the orientation system to collect data.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data is indicative of the mechanical axis of the leg.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
positioning, based upon the collected data, a cutting guide coupled with the orthopedic orientation assembly; and
cutting the femur at an angle corresponding to the position of the cutting guide.

14. The method of claim 13 , comprising calculating a relative difference in orientation between the orientation system and the reference device prior to positioning the cutting guide.

15. A method of determining an anatomical feature during a knee procedure, comprising:
coupling an orientation system with a distal aspect of a femur, the orientation system comprising a first housing, a first orientation sensor disposed within the first housing, and a user interface operably coupled with the first orientation sensor;
coupling a reference system with a distal aspect of a femur, the reference system comprising a second housing, a second orientation sensor disposed within the second housing, wherein the orientation system and the reference system are separately moveable relative to each other;
interacting with the user interface to begin an analysis of potential sources of error in the orientation system after coupling the orientation system and the reference system to the distal femoral aspect;
moving the orientation system to collect data indicative of the anatomical feature;
estimating a first error associated with the first orientation sensor when the conditions of the second orientation sensor are known; and
estimating a second error associated with the second orientation sensor when the conditions of the first orientation sensor are known.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein when moving the orientation system, maintaining a minimum average rate of motion of the orientation system.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the minimum average rate of motion is at least 10 degrees per second about an axis of rotation.

18. A method of determining an anatomical feature during a knee procedure, comprising:
coupling an orientation system with a distal aspect of a femur, the orientation system comprising a housing, a first orientation sensor and a second orientation sensor disposed within the housing, and a user interface operably coupled with the first orientation sensor and the second orientation sensor;
estimating a first error associated with the first orientation sensor based in part upon the output of the second orientation sensor;
estimating a second error associated with the second orientation sensor based in part upon the output of the first orientation sensor;
moving the orientation system to collect data indicative of the anatomical feature relevant to the knee procedure; and
reducing error from the data,
wherein the second orientation sensor includes a gyroscope and estimating the second error is based in part upon the output of the first orientation sensor at substantially zero velocity.

19. A method of determining an anatomical feature during a knee procedure, comprising:
coupling an orientation system with a distal aspect of a femur, the orientation system comprising a housing, a first orientation sensor and a second orientation sensor disposed within the housing, and a user interface operably coupled with the first orientation sensor and the second orientation sensor;
estimating a first error associated with the first orientation sensor based in part upon the output of the second orientation sensor;
estimating a second error associated with the second orientation sensor based in part upon the output of the first orientation sensor;
moving the orientation system to collect data indicative of the anatomical feature relevant to the knee procedure; and
reducing error from the data,
wherein the first orientation sensor is an accelerometer and the second orientation sensor is a gyroscope.

20. A method of determining an anatomical feature during a knee procedure, comprising:
coupling an orientation system with a distal aspect of a femur, the orientation system comprising a housing, an inertial sensor assembly including an accelerometer and a gyroscope disposed within the housing, and a user interface operably coupled with the accelerometer and the gyroscope;
moving the orientation system to collect data indicative of the anatomical fe

Assignees

• Van Der Walt Nicholas
• Shapiro Charles
• Ryan Matt
• Nash Sean
• Orthalign Inc

Inventors

• Van Der Walt Nicholas
• Shapiro Charles
• Ryan Matt
• Nash Sean

Classifications

• A61B5/1071

  measuring angles, e.g. using goniometers (A61B5/1123 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61B17/1764

  for the knee · CPC title

• A61B19/5244

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A61B19/201

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A61B17/157

  Cutting tibia · CPC title