Berlet
Introduction: Pre-operative navigation has provided
many potential benefits for total-knee arthroplasty, including
patient-specific alignment, repeatable implant
placement, and decreased surgical time. For the first
time, this advantageous technology was applied to TAA
and pre-operative capabilities at the ankle were explored.
The current study determines intra-operator repeatability
of tibia and talus patient-specific guide placement and
the deviation between the pre-operative plan and actual
implant placement.
Methods: Routine ankle CT scans were acquired of three
lower extremity limbs, converted into 3D solid models,
and imported into a CAD assembly where anatomic
landmarks defining tibia/talus alignment were established.
The landmarks were used to perform a virtual
TAA, where commercially-available implant components
were placed to mimic traditional cases. A surgical guide,
referencing the cadaver-specific anatomy, was reverse engineered
to accurately define the resection planes necessary
to recreate the virtual placement of traditional tibia
and talus implants in the post-operative position
