Method and apparatus for use in balancing ligaments of a knee

1. A method of operating a ligament balancer during the performance of an orthopaedic surgical procedure, the method comprising:

determining a first force value based on a first electrical output signal indicative of a force applied to at least one of a medial femoral paddle and a lateral femoral paddle of the ligament balancer,

displaying the first force value on a user interface positioned on a housing of the ligament balancer, the housing being coupled to at least one of the medial femoral paddle and the lateral femoral paddle,

receiving a first user input via the user interface,

storing, in response to receiving the first user input, a digital representation of the first force value in a memory device located in the housing,

receiving a second user input via the user interface,

retrieving, in response to receiving the second user input, the digital representation of the first force value from the memory device of the ligament balancer,

generating a second electrical output signal indicative of a force applied to at least one of a medial femoral paddle and a lateral femoral paddle of the ligament balancer,

determining a second force value based on the second electrical output signal, and

generating a control signal to operate an actuator to move at least one of the medial femoral paddle and the lateral femoral paddle until the second force value is substantially equal to the first force value, wherein the control signal is generated by a controller located in the housing.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the second electrical output signal includes transmitting data indicative of the force applied to the at least one of the medial femoral paddle and the lateral femoral paddle to a computer assisted orthopaedic surgery system.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein transmitting data includes wirelessly transmitting the data.

4. A method of operating a ligament balancer during the performance of an orthopaedic surgical procedure, the method comprising:

generating a first control signal to move at least one of a medial femoral paddle and a lateral femoral paddle away from a tibial paddle of a ligament balancer,

determining a first force value indicative of a force applied to the at least one of the medial femoral paddle and the lateral femoral paddle,

displaying the first force value on a user interface positioned on a housing of the ligament balancer that is coupled to the medial femoral paddle and the lateral femoral paddle,

receiving a first user input via the user interface,

storing the first force value in a memory device located in the housing in response to the first user input,

receiving a second user input via the user interface,

retrieving the first force value from the memory device in response to the second user input, and

generating a second control signal to move the at least one of the medial femoral paddle and the lateral femoral paddle away from the tibial paddle until a second force value indicative of a force applied to the at least one of the medial femoral paddle and the lateral femoral paddle matches the first force value, wherein the first control signal and the second control signal are generated by a controller located in the housing.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising determining a distance value indicative of the distance between (i) the at least one of the medial femoral paddle and the lateral femoral paddle and (ii) the tibial paddle.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising transmitting data indicative of the first force value and the second force value to a computer assisted orthopaedic surgery system.

7. A method of operating a ligament balancer during the performance of an orthopaedic surgical procedure, the method comprising:

determining a first distance value based on a first electrical output signal indicative of a distance between (i) at least one of a medial femoral paddle and a lateral femoral paddle and (ii) a tibial paddle of the ligament balancer,

displaying the first distance value on a user interface positioned on a housing of the ligament balancer that is coupled to the medial femoral paddle, the lateral femoral paddle, and the tibial paddle,

receiving a first user input via the user interface,

storing, in response to receiving the first user input, a digital representation of the first distance value in a memory device located in the housing,

retrieving the first distance value from the memory device of the ligament balancer in response to receiving a second user input via the user interface,

generating a second electrical output signal indicative of a distance measured between (i) at least one of the medial femoral paddle and the lateral femoral paddle and (ii) the tibial paddle of the ligament balancer,

determining a second distance value based on the second electrical output signal, and

controlling an actuator coupled to the at least one of the medial femoral paddle and the lateral femoral paddle to move at least one of the medial femoral paddle and the lateral femoral paddle until the second distance value is substantially equal to the first distance value, the actuator being controlled by a controller located in the housing.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising determining a force value indicative of a force applied to the at least one of the medial femoral paddle and the lateral femoral paddle.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein generating the second electrical output signal includes transmitting data indicative of the distance measured between (i) the at least one of the medial femoral paddle and the lateral femoral paddle and (ii) the tibial paddle to a computer assisted orthopaedic surgery system.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein transmitting data includes wirelessly transmitting the data.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the at least one of the medial femoral paddle and the lateral femoral paddle is the medial femoral paddle, and further comprising:

retrieving a third distance value from the memory device,

generating a third electrical output signal indicative of a distance measured between the lateral femoral paddle and the tibial paddle of the ligament balancer,

determining a fourth distance value based on the second electrical output signal, and

controlling an actuator coupled to the lateral femoral paddle to move the lateral femoral paddle until the fourth distance value is substantially equal to the third distance value.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining a force value indicative of a force applied to the lateral femoral paddle.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein generating the third electrical output signal includes transmitting data indicative of the distance measured between the lateral femoral paddle and the tibial paddle to a computer assisted orthopaedic surgery system.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein transmitting data includes wirelessly transmitting the data.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining the third distance value based on another electrical output signal, and

storing a digital representation of the third distance value in the memory device.