COMPUTER-ASSISTED ARTHROPLASTY SYSTEM TO IMPROVE PATELLAR PERFORMANCE

1 . A method for performing a knee arthroplasty procedure comprising:

receiving a plurality of images of a musculoskeletal anatomy of a patient, wherein the plurality of images includes an image of a patellofemoral joint and a femoral-tibial joint of the patient in each of a plurality of flexion positions;

identifying an anatomical geometry within the plurality of images to define a preoperative knee geometry;

accessing a statistical patient model that predicts prosthetic knee implant performance based on the preoperative knee geometry and a set of prosthetic knee implant implantation parameters, wherein the prosthetic knee implant performance includes a prediction of condylar gap uniformity and patellar tracking for a motion profile;

calculating, from the statistical patient model, a surgical plan including a set of proposed knee implant implantation parameters for which the predicted prosthetic knee implant performance satisfies a set of predetermined performance criteria; and

performing the knee arthroplasty procedure using a computer-assisted surgical system in accordance with the proposed knee implant implantation parameters.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting one or more postoperative patient activities from a plurality of model activities, wherein the motion profile is chosen to reflect the selected one or more postoperative patient activities.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of proposed knee implant implantation parameters include at least one of a set of proposed bone resections and tissue releases, a set of proposed implant positions, and an implant selection configured to achieve a desired post-operative patellofemoral joint and femoral-tibial joint geometry.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the knee arthroplasty procedure using a computer-assisted surgical system comprises:

tracking patient bone resections in real-time;

modeling patellar tracking during the knee arthroplasty procedure; and

updating the surgical plan based on the tracked patient bone resections and the modeled patellar tracking.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of images comprise a plurality of x-ray images.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the knee arthroplasty procedure comprises:

attaching fiducial markers to a femur and a tibia of the patient; and

performing one of:

attaching fiducial markers to the patella, and

registering a feature of the patella with the computer-assisted surgical system using a probe.

7 . A computer-assisted surgical system for performing a knee arthroplasty procedure comprising:

a simulation database comprising results of a plurality simulations of patellofemoral joint and femoral-tibial joint performance for a model of a knee, wherein each simulation models a knee having one of a plurality of hypothetical geometries undergoing a predetermined motion profile;

a statistical model, computationally created from the simulation database, that predicts prosthetic knee implant performance based on a preoperative knee geometry and a set of prosthetic knee implant implantation parameters, wherein the predicted prosthetic knee implant performance includes a prediction of condylar gap uniformity and patellar tracking;

a first set of software instructions that instructs one or more processors to receive a plurality of patient images containing at least an image of a patellofemoral joint and a femoral-tibial joint of a patient in each of a plurality of flexion positions; and

a second set of software instructions that instructs the one or more processors to determine a set of recommended knee implant implantation parameters for which the predicted prosthetic knee implant performance satisfies a set of predetermined post-operative performance criteria including condylar gap uniformity and patellar tracking, and to update a surgical plan of the computer-assisted surgical system to reflect the set of recommended knee implant implantation parameters.

8 . The computer-assisted surgical system of claim 7 , further comprising a third set of software instructions that instructs the one or more processors to receive a selection of one or more postoperative patient activities from a plurality of model activities.

9 . The computer-assisted surgical system of claim 7 , wherein the set of recommended knee implant implantation parameters includes a set of proposed bone resections and tissue releases configured to achieve a desired post-operative patellofemoral joint and femoral-tibial joint geometry.

10 . The computer-assisted surgical system of claim 7 , further comprising a third set of software instructions that instructs the one or more processors to:

track patient bone resections in real-time;

model patellar tracking during the knee arthroplasty procedure; and

update the surgical plan based on the tracked patient bone resections and the modeled patellar tracking.

11 . The computer-assisted surgical system of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of images comprise a plurality of x-ray images.

12 . The computer-assisted surgical system of claim 7 , wherein the computer-assisted surgical system comprises fiducial markers affixed to a femur, a tibia, and a patella of the patient.

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating the statistical model based on biomechanical simulation data from a plurality of biomechanical simulations representing a plurality of possible patient geometries.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the statistical model comprises a transfer function based on the simulation data.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of proposed knee implant implantation parameters is selected from a plurality of sets of proposed knee implant implantation parameters based on the statistical model.

16 . The computer-assisted surgical system of claim 7 , wherein the statistical model comprises a transfer function based on the plurality of simulations.

17 . The computer-assisted surgical system of claim 7 , wherein the set of recommended knee implant implantation parameters is selected from a plurality of sets of knee implant implantation parameters based on the statistical model.

18 . The computer-assisted surgical system of claim 7 , further comprising a third set of software instructions that instructs the one or more processors to:

receive a location of a probe with respect to a patella of the patient; and

register at least one feature of the patella based on the received location.

19 . A system for performing a knee arthroplasty procedure, the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:

receive a plurality of images of a patellofemoral joint and a femoral-tibial joint of a patient, wherein the plurality of images depict the patellofemoral joint and the femoral-tibial joint in each of a plurality of flexion positions;

define a preoperative knee geometry for the patient based on the plurality of images;

access a statistical patient model configured to provide a predictive performance assessment for an implant component based on the preoperative knee geometry and a set of implantation parameters, wherein the predictive performance assessment comprises assessment of condylar gap uniformity and patellar tracking for a motion profile; and

calculate, based on the statistical patient model, a surgical plan comprising a set of proposed implantation parameters, wherein the predictive performance assessment for the proposed implantation parameters satisfies a set of predetermined performance criteria.

20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to:

track one or more patient bone resections in real-time;

model patellar tracking based on at least the one or more patient bone resections; and

update the surgical plan based on the tracked patient bone resections and the modeled patellar tracking.