Abstract Methods and apparatus for femoral and tibial resection are provided. The apparatus of the present invention comprises a number of components including a positioning and drill guide, a cutting guide and a cutting apparatus. The drill guide is used to create holes in the medial and lateral sides of the femur that correspond to the fixation features of the cutting guide. The cutting guide is oriented and located by inserting fixation nubs connected to the cutting guide into the medial and lateral holes in the femur. The cutting guide can then be further affixed to the femur. The cutting apparatus can then be used with the cutting guide to resect the femur. A modified cutting guide can be used to position a conventional cutting block against a femur to be resected.
A method for resecting a femur comprising the steps of: positioning a drill guide along a femur for locating positioning holes on a femur; drilling positioning holes in a femur; spreading apart facing pattern plates interconnected with a bridge to position the plates over medial and lateral sides of a femur; inserting fixation nubs on the pattern plates into the positioning holes in a femur; additionally fixing the pattern plates to a femur with fixation hardware; and traversing a cutting tool along a cutting path in the pattern plates.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
89 words
A method for resecting a femur comprising the steps of: positioning a drill guide along a femur for locating positioning holes on a femur; drilling positioning holes in a femur; spreading apart facing pattern plates interconnected with a bridge to position the plates over medial and lateral sides of a femur; inserting fixation nubs on the pattern plates into the positioning holes in a femur; additionally fixing the pattern plates to a femur with fixation hardware; and traversing a cutting tool along a cutting path in the pattern plates.