Click here to play an animated film that shows how the surgeon uses Custom Fit Total Knee cutting guides to make bone cuts and place new implants during replacement surgery.

CFTK replacement, front view/back view implants in place

Shape-Matching™ helps restore ligaments to normal length and balance

Posterior cruciate ligament, routinely saved with CFTK replacement

Femoral guide used to make
bone cuts, then femoral implant
placed

Tibial guide used to make
bone cuts, then Tibial implant
placed

Digital Shape Matching™ of
Implants

 

During Your Surgery

  1. When your surgery begins, your surgeon pins your surgical guides in place and makes precise bone cuts through the computer calculated cutting slots. Since these cuts are computer calculated to within fractions of a millimeter and matched ahead of time, this increases the accuracy of the surgeon’s cuts. Improving the accuracy of these all important cuts aids the surgeon in creating the proper alignment, rotation and stability of the knee implant.


  2. The cuts are made and a trial knee implant is placed. The surgeon checks this trial implant for proper alignment.


  3. The plastic tibial inserts are sized as well. (Most patients will need a size 11 plastic insert, but various sizes are tried to assure proper fit and stability.)


  4. The surgeon determines that everything fits well and that the knee ligaments are well-balanced, (back to their natural alignment).


  5. The real knee implant is then cemented into place.

The intent of the Shape-Matching™ process is to restore each patient’s natural alignment. Since the knee ligaments are restored to their normal lengths and are properly balanced, no further ligament balancing (cutting) is necessary. This may greatly improve knee function after surgery. In many conventional knee replacements one ligament, the posterior cruciate ligament, was often sacrificed. With CFTK replacement surgery, this major ligament is now routinely saved and balanced, possibly contributing to more rapid recovery and feelings of near normality shortly after surgery.

To date, of the hundreds of surgeries performed using OtisKnee technology, there has never been an incorrect computer calculation of the size of the femur or tibia.

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