DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE APERTURE ANGLE OF A JOINT

1 . A method for determining an aperture angle of a joint, said method comprising:

detecting at least one of (i) positions of components forming the joint and (ii) positions of structures connected to or to be connected to the joint; and

ascertaining the aperture angle of the joint from the detected positions.

2 . The method as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising:

recording at least one of (i) joint structures and (ii) structures connected to or to be connected to the joint; and

using the recorded structures to determine the aperture angle.

3 . The method as set forth in claim 2 , further comprising:

performing a segmentation step to sub-divide the recorded structures.

4 . The method as set forth in claim 2 , further comprising:

attaching reference markers to at least one of (i) the joint and (ii) the structures connected to or to be connected to the joint.

5 . The method as set forth in claim 3 , further comprising:

registering at least one of (i) the joint and (ii) the structures connected to or to be connected to the joint.

6 . The method as set forth in claim 5 , further comprising:

visualizing the ascertained aperture angle.

7 . The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein ascertained aperture angles are stored in a storage unit.

8 . The method as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising:

determining aperture angles of a natural joint in a plurality of directions;

implanting an artificial joint;

determining aperture angles of the implanted joint; and

comparing the determined aperture angles of the natural joint with the determined aperture angles of the implanted joint.

9 . The method as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising applying defined forces in defined directions to the joint.

10 . A computer program which, when it is loaded onto a computer or run on a computer, performs the method steps as set forth in claim 1 .

11 . A machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon sequences of instructions that, when executed, cause a system to perform the method as set forth in claim 1 .

12 .- 15 . (canceled)

16 . A system comprising:

a device for determining a spatial angle formed by a joint, the device comprising

a detection device configured to detect (i) positions of joint components and/or (ii) positions of structures connected to or to be connected to the joint, and

a computational unit programmed with a program configured to run on the computational unit, wherein the program is configured to ascertain a spatial angle formed by the joint based on the detected positions using joint geometry data stored in a database; and

a plurality of reference markers configured to be removably connected to joint structures and/or structures connected to or to be connected to the joint, wherein the detection device is configured to detect the reference markers.