Method of determining the position of the articular point of a joint
US7780677B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 21, 2006 |
| Grant date | Aug 24, 2010 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 24, 2029 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B2090/3945
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A non-invasive method for determining the articular point of a knee joint is disclosed. The method uses a surgical navigation system having stereoscopic cameras which track the positions of infrared emitting or reflecting markers attached to leg portions on either side of the knee joint. A movable marker is used to palpate known landmarks on the leg portions to determine their positions. The leg portions are moved to determine the trajectories of the landmarks relative to the joint. Positional information from the cameras is fed to a data processing system with resident software which uses the positional information and trajectories to mathematically determine the positions of the knee joint articular point according to the laws of kinematics.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.