Total Knee Replacement Surgery Advancement

Patent awarded for a lightweight, cost effective guide for surgeons to achieve precise preparatory cuts, functional checks prior to knee implant and replacement. Congratulations to Zwirkoski and Adams with ZJ LLC.

There are more than 600,000 knee replacements performed each year in the United States, with projections of nearly a million replacements in 2020. Traditionally, the cut guides and instruments have not only been heavy and cumbersome but expensive to manufacture. They have also been non-adjustable, which has made it more complicated for the surgeon to properly prepare accurate surgical cuts needed for a successful total knee replacement.

With our aging baby boomers, we are excited about the advancements being made in total joint replacement surgeries. It is also reassuring to have these advancements that will help surgeons assess and confirm proper restoration of critical outcomes, including joint mechanics, range of motion, and soft tissue balance. This new patented design is, while being considerably less expensive to manufacturer, still satisfies the surgical performance requirements.

Additional patents issued in this area:

  • Patient-specific instruments for total hip arthroplasty (US20120123423A1)
  • Surgical braces for achieving high precision, quick and easy artificial joint replacement (JP5148284B2)
  • Revision systems, tools and methods for revising joint arthroplasty implants (AU2012296556B2)
  • Devices, techniques and methods for assessing joint spacing, balancing soft tissues and obtaining desired kinematics for joint implant components (US9675471B2)
  • Patient-specific alignment guide (US8858561B2)