Surgically implantable knee prosthesis having attachment apertures

1. A knee prosthesis for unicompartmental implantation into a knee joint, comprising:

a unicompartmental body having a substantially elliptical shape in plan, the body having a convex face, an opposed concave face and a peripheral face extending between the opposed faces having a first side, a second side opposite the first side, a first end and a second end opposite the first end; and

at least one aperture extending through the body, the aperture extending from a first one of the faces to a second one of the faces.

2. The knee prosthesis as defined in claim 1 further comprising:

a first dimension D defined by the first end and the second end; and

a second dimension F defined by the first side and the second side, where the dimension F is from about 0.25 to about 1.5 of the dimension D.

3. The knee prosthesis as defined in claim 1 wherein the aperture penetrates the body at the peripheral face and at one of the opposed faces.

4. The knee prosthesis as defined in claim 1 wherein the body includes two separate apertures, each aperture penetrating the body at the peripheral face and at one of the opposed faces.

5. The knee prosthesis as defined in claim 4 wherein each aperture penetrates the same opposed face of the body.

6. The knee prosthesis as defined in claim 1 wherein the aperture penetrates the body at a first portion of the peripheral face and at a second portion of the peripheral face.

7. The knee prosthesis as defined in claim 1 wherein there are two separate apertures, each aperture penetrating the body at spaced apart portions of the peripheral face.

8. The knee prosthesis as defined in claim 1 wherein the convex surface is a tibial surface of the prosthesis and the concave surface is a femoral surface of the prosthesis.

9. A method of providing an implantable knee prosthesis for unicompartmental implantation into a knee joint comprising:

providing a unicompartmental body having a substantially elliptical shape in plan, the body having a convex face, an opposed concave face, and a peripheral face extending between the opposed faces; and

forming at least one aperture to extend through the body, the aperture extending from a first one of the faces to a second one of the faces.

10. The method as defined in claim 9 further comprising:

dimensioning the faces to be defined by a dimension D extending between opposite ends of the body, and a dimension F extending between opposite sides of the body, where the dimension F is in the range of about 0.25 to about 1.5 of the dimension D.

11. The method as defined in claim 9 further comprising:

forming the aperture to penetrate the body at the peripheral face and one of the opposed faces.

12. The method as defined in claim 9 further comprising:

forming two separate apertures such that each aperture penetrates the body at the peripheral face and at one of the opposed faces.

13. The method as defined in claim 12 further comprising:

forming each aperture to penetrate the same opposed face of the body.

14. The method as defined in claim 9 further comprising:

forming the aperture to penetrate the body at a first portion of the peripheral face and at a second portion of the peripheral face.

15. The method defined by claim 9 further comprising:

forming two separate apertures such that each aperture penetrates the body at spaced apart portions of the peripheral face.

16. The method as defined in claim 9 further comprising:

removing at least a portion of a meniscus in the knee joint.

17. The method as defined in claim 9 further comprising:

introducing suture through the at least one aperture to attach the prosthesis in the knee joint.

18. The method as defined in claim 9 wherein the convex surface is a tibial surface of the prosthesis and the concave surface is a femoral surface of the prosthesis.

19. The method as defined in claim 9 further comprising:

measuring for a length dimension of the prosthesis; and

measuring for a thickness dimension of the prosthesis.

20. The method as defined in claim 9 further comprising:

inserting a trial component into the knee joint;

verifying sizing for the trial component;

removing the trial component; and

inserting the prosthesis.