Minimally Invasive (MIS) Total Knee Replacement &
CAS – Computer Assisted Surgical Techniques

Press Release – Research Lab

Evergreen Orthopedic Research Lab and MIS-Navigation Learning Center
The Evergreen Orthopedic Research Lab and MIS-Navigation Learning Center is the result of a collaborative effort and is devoted to the study and development of advanced techniques in joint replacement surgery. The last decade has seen great advances in material science, surgical techniques, and results of joint replacement surgery.

Future advances are promised as minimally invasive surgical techniques have been developed, studied, and perfected. Parallel with MIS techniques, computer navigation is allowing orthopedic surgeon to bring a new level of precision accuracy to the operating room and to create new gold standards in component position and limb alignment. This research and learning center has been created to combine minimally invasive techniques with computer navigation with the following goals:

Minimally Invasive Navigation Instruments
Minimally invasive surgical techniques for total knee replacement and unicondylar knee replacement have evolved separately from the evolution of navigation techniques. Consequently, navigation instruments are simply too large for today’s emerging MIS total knee techniques. Evergreen Orthopedic Research Lab and American Medical Concepts are developing a variety of instruments design to link computer navigation and MIS total knee techniques.

Computer Navigation in Total Knee Replacement
Infra-red wireless trackers are used in conjunction with a PC based computer navigation system to bring a level of precision, accuracy, and reproducibility that is not possible with standard methods of instrumentation that have been used in knee replacement. Detailed inquiries into the range of motion, kinematics, alignment, component position, and soft tissue management are now possible.

Figure 1: Infra-red wireless tracker sends signals to PC-based transceiver.

Figure 2: PC – based transceiver receives information from trackers providing details of position, alignment, range of motion, and kinematics of knee.

Figure 3: Graphs of range of motion, angular alignment, joint distraction and compression, and rotation provide the keys to new understanding of knee replacement surgery.

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