CT-free-based total knee arthroplasty navigation with a minimally invasive surgical technique

Abstract

Computer-assisted surgery (CAS) is beginning to emerge as one of the most important technologies in orthopaedic surgery. Many of the initial applications of this technology have focused on adult reconstructive surgery of the knee. The value of CAS in TKA has been established in many studies. Minimally invasive surgical (MIS) techniques for performing TKA are also receiving extensive and intensive attention. The goals of this chapter are to 1) present the rationale for the use of image-free CAS in knee surgery; 2) describe the hardware and software components of image-free CAS systems; 3) explain the rationale for combining CAS with MIS techniques and, 4) illustrate a typical CAS-MIS surgical technique; 5) summarize the early results with this technique. © 2007 Springer Medizin Verlag Heidelberg.