Introduction

The practice of limb lengthening using intramedullary nails has surged in popularity in recent years. Our study explores the relationship between femur lengthening and overall height gain in adults undergoing cosmetic limb lengthening with telescoping magnetic intramedullary lengthening nails (MILNs).

Participation in a physical therapy program is considered one of the greatest predictors for successful conservative management of common shoulder disorders, however, adherence to standard exercise protocols is often poor (around 50%) and typically worse for unsupervised home exercise programs. Currently, there are limited tools available for objective measurement of adherence and performance of shoulder rehabilitation in the home setting. The goal of this study was to develop and evaluate the potential for performing home shoulder physiotherapy monitoring using a commercial smartwatch. We hypothesize that shoulder physiotherapy exercises can be classified by analyzing the temporal sequence of inertial sensor outputs from a smartwatch worn on the extremity performing the exercise.

Twenty healthy adult subjects with no prior shoulder disorders performed seven exercises from a standard evidence-based rotator cuff physiotherapy protocol: pendulum, abduction, forward elevation, internal/external rotation and trapezius extension with a resistance band, and a weighted bent-over row. Each participant performed 20 repetitions of each exercise bilaterally under the supervision of an orthopaedic surgeon, while 6-axis inertial sensor data was collected at 50 Hz from an Apple Watch. Using the scikit-learn and keras platforms, four supervised learning algorithms were trained to classify the exercises: k-nearest neighbour (k-NN), random forest (RF), support vector machine classifier (SVC), and a deep convolutional recurrent neural network (CRNN). Algorithm performance was evaluated using 5-fold cross-validation stratified first temporally and then by subject.

Categorical classification accuracy was above 94% for all algorithms on the temporally stratified cross validation, with the best performance achieved by the CRNN algorithm (99.4± 0.2%). The subject stratified cross validation, which evaluated classifier performance on unseen subjects, yielded lower accuracies scores again with CRNN performing best (88.9 ± 1.6%).

This proof-of concept study demonstrates the feasibility of a smartwatch device and machine learning approach to more easily monitor and assess the at-home adherence of shoulder physiotherapy exercise protocols. Future work will focus on translation of this technology to the clinical setting and evaluating exercise classification in shoulder disorder populations.

Introduction

The Center for Medicare Services (CMS) recently proposed its phase 3 “Quality metrics” which include a section on patient engagement. CMS uses a fitness monitor as an example of an acceptable way for patients to contribute to the health record. Wearable technology allows measurement of activity, blood glucose, heart rate, sleep, and other health metrics, all of which can be useful in the management of patients in the orthopaedic practice. The purpose of this study is to thoroughly review existing fitness devices; and evaluate their potential uses in orthopaedic practice.

INTRODUCTION

In computer-aided total knee arthroplasty (TKA), surgical navigation systems (SNS) allow accurate tibio-femoral joint (TFJ) prosthesis implantation only. Unfortunately, TKA alters also normal patello-femoral joint (PFJ) functioning. Particularly, without patellar resurfacing, PFJ kinematics is influenced by TFJ implantation; with resurfacing, this is further affected by patellar implantation. Patellar resurfacing is performed only by visual inspections and a simple calliper, i.e. without computer assistance.

Patellar resurfacing and motion via patient-specific bone morphology had been assessed successfully in-vitro and in-vivo in pilot studies aimed at including these evaluations in traditional navigated TKA.

The aim of this study was to report the current experiences in-vivo in two patient cohorts during TKA with patellar resurfacing.

Purpose

To validate a small, easy to use and cost-effective augmented marker-based hybrid navigation system for peri-acetabular osteotomy [PAO] surgery.

Surgical navigation systems enable surgeons to carry out surgical interventions more accurately and less invasively, by tracking the surgical instruments inside human body with respect to the target anatomy. Currently, optical tracking (OPT) is the gold standard in surgical instrument tracking because of its sub-millimeter accuracy, but is constrained by direct line of sight (LOS) between camera sensors and active or passive markers. Electromagnetic tracking (EMT) is an alternative without the requirement of LOS, but subject to environmental ferromagnetic distortion. An intuitive idea is to integrate respective strengths of them to overcome respective weakness and we aim to develop a tightly-coupled method emphasising the interactive coupled sensor fusion from magnetic and optical tracking data. In order to get real-time position and orientation of surgical instruments in the surgical field, we developed a new tracking system, which is aiming to overcome the constraints of line-of-sight and paired-point interference in surgical environment. The primary contribution of this study is that the LOS and point correspondence problems can be mitigated using the initial measurements of EMT, and in turn the OPT result can provide initial value for non-linear iterative solver of EMT sensing module.

We developed an integrated optical and electromagnetic tracker comprised of custom multiple infrared cameras, optical marker, field generator and sensing coils, because the current commercial optical or magnetic tracker typically consists of unchangeable lower level proprietary hardware and firmware. For the instrument-affixed markers, the relative pose between passive optical markers and magnetic coils is calibrated. The pose of magnetic sensing coils calculated by electromagnetic sensing module, can speed up the extraction of fiducial points and the point correspondences due to the reduced search space. Moreover, the magnetic tracking can compensate the missing information when the optical markers are temporarily occluded. For magnetic sensing subsystem comprised of 3-axis transmitters and 3-axis receiving coils, the objective function for nonlinear pose estimator is given by the summation of the square difference between the measured sensing data and theoretical data from the dipole model. Non-linear optimisation is computational intensive and requires initial pose estimation value. Traditionally, the initial value is calculated by equation-based algorithm, which is sensitive to noise. Instead, we get the initial value from the measurement of optical tracking subsystem. The real-time integrated tracking system was validated to have tracking errors about 0.87mm. The proposed interactive and tightly coupled sensor-fusion of magnetic-optical tracking method is efficient and applicable for both general surgeries as well as intracorporeal surgeries.

Navigation has been felt to play a role in a number of THA issues. These issues include: 1) Instability-Dislocation; 2) Leg Length discrepancy; 3) Impingement and its impact on range of motion and wear; 3) gait mechanics; and 4) less invasive surgery. Navigation requires that anatomic landmarks be accurately identified. This can be done using images obtained either pre-operatively or intra-operatively (image-based navigation) or using intra-operative techniques for registering the relevant bony anatomy (image-free). The suggested advantages of imaged-based navigation are that is potentially very accurate, makes registering bone landmarks relatively easy and provides information about relevant anatomic landmarks that are not visible during surgery. The disadvantages of image-based navigation are that the acquisition of pre-operative imaging may be inconvenient or cumbersome, the imaging may be associated with increased radiation exposure, the imaging may be associated with additional costs and the pre-operative planning carried out on the imaging may be elaborate and time consuming. The advantages of image-free navigation are that no special pre-operative planning is required, no special imaging is necessary and the intra-operative workflow is consistent with the routine performance of a THA. However, image free registration techniques may be unreliable or inaccurate and the information obtained with image-free registration techniques is limited.

When surgeons proficient in the technique perform image free navigation, positioning of the acetabular component is more accurate and consistent than that achieved using manual techniques. However, this increased accuracy has not been associated with a reduction in hip dislocations and has not had a measurable impact on short-term clinical outcomes. However, navigation is an accurate measurement tool that can be used to validate other computer-based technologies (e.g. patient specific guides). Navigation is also essential to the performance of robotic hip surgery. It is in this latter capacity that navigation may prove most useful to the hip surgeon.

Recently, electromagnetic tracking for surgical procedures has gained popularity due to its small sensor size and the absence of line-of-sight restrictions. However, EM trackers are susceptible to measurement noise. Indeed, depending on the environment, measurement uncertainties may vary considerably. Therefore, it is important to characterise electromagnetic measurement systems when used in a fluoroscopy setting. The purpose of our study is to assess decoupled static electromagnetic measurement errors in position and orientation, without adding potential interference, in the presence of fluoroscopic imaging equipment.

Using an Aurora electromagnetic tracking system (Northern Digital, Waterloo, Canada), 5 degrees of freedom measurements were collected in a working space located midway between the source and the receiver of a flat-panel 3D fluoroscope (Innova 4100, GE Healthcare, Buc, France) emitting X-rays. In addition, to determine potential EM distortion from X-rays, electromagnetic measurement accuracies, as a function of position, were compared before, during, and after X-ray emissions. To decouple position and orientation errors, two scaffold devices were designed. Their centre was placed approximately at X = −50, Y = 0, and Z = −300 mm in the EM tracker's global coordinate system. First the positioning scaffold was used to assess the position and orientation measurement uncertainties as a function of position. Next, the orienting scaffold was used to assess the position and orientation measurement uncertainties as a function of orientation. Then, a least-squares method was employed to register the path position measurements to the known geometry of the scaffolds. As a result, the position accuracy was defined as the Euclidean distance between the registered and the ground truth positions. Finally, the orientation accuracy was defined as the difference between two direct angles: the angle between two measured consecutive paths, and the angle of the corresponding ground truth.

When translating the sensor using the positioning scaffold, the resulting position accuracy was characterised by a mean of 3.2 mm. Similarly, when rotating the sensor using the orienting scaffold, the resulting orientation accuracy was characterised by a mean of 1.7 deg. As for the “cross-displacement” errors, the orientation accuracy as a function of position had a mean of 1.8 deg. Likewise, the position as a function of orientation had a mean of 4.0 mm. Position and orientation accuracies – as a function of position, before, during, and after emission of X-rays – indicate that there was no significant interference by the presence of an X-ray beam on the EM measurements.

This work provides evidence that placing the EM system into X-ray beams does not affect EM measurement accuracies. Nevertheless, the fluoroscope itself significantly increases the EM measurement errors. Careful analysis of the EM measurement distribution errors suggests that associated uncertainties are predictable and preventable. In essence, EM tracking is promising for orthopedic procedures that may require the use of a fluoroscope.

Introduction

Half of all acetabular components placed using conventional methods are malpositioned¹. The HipSextant™ Navigation System (Surgical Planning Associates, Boston, MA) is a mechanical navigation system, adjusted on a patient-specific basis, designed to achieve appropriate cup alignment as simply and rapidly as possible. The current study assesses the surgeon's ability to register and track the pelvis and align the cup using the system.

Introduction

Computer aided surgery aims to improve surgical outcomes with computer guidance. Navigated Freehand bone Cutting (NFC) takes this further by eliminating the need for cumbersome mechanical jigs, while decreasing cutting time and complexity. To reduce the footprint of the NFC tracking system (currently NDI Polaris) we designed and implemented “On-Tool Tracking” (OTT), a novel miniaturized tracking system that mounts onto the cutting instruments (Fig. 1). This study investigates the accuracy of the 3D-measurements of the OTT system.

Over the past fifteen years, computer-assisted surgery systems have been more commonly used, especially in joint arthroplasty. They allow a greater accuracy and precision in surgical procedures and thus should improve outcomes and long term results.

New instruments such as guided handheld tools have been recently developed to ultimately eliminate the need for drilling/cutting or milling guides.

To make sure that the handheld tool cuts and/or drills in the desired plane, it has to be servo-controlled. For this purpose, the tool joints are actuated by computer-controlled motors. A tracking system gives the tool position and orientation and a computer calculates the corrections for the motors to keep the tool in the desired plane.

For this servo-control, a very fast tracking system would be necessary. It should be fast enough to follow human motion. Current optical tracking systems used for computer-assisted surgery have a bandwidth of about 10–60 Hz [3]. For servo-control, a bandwidth of about 200–300 Hz would be required to be faster than human reaction; the latency of the system should also be small, about 2–3 ms. Optical tracking systems with a higher bandwidth exist but are too expensive for applications in surgery; besides the latency – due to the complex computer vision treatment involved – is too big.

We have developed a hybrid tracking system consisting of two cameras pointed at the operating field and a sensor unit which can be attached to a handheld tool.

The sensor unit is made up of an inertial measuring unit (IMU) and numerous optical markers. The data from the IMU (three gyroscopes and three accelerometers placed such that their measurement axes are perpendicular to each other) and the marker images from the cameras looking at the optical markers are fed to a data fusion algorithm. This algorithm calculates the position and the orientation of any handheld tool. It can do so at the higher of the two sensor sample rates which is the IMU sample rate in our case.

Our experimental setup consists of an ADIS 16355 IMU which runs at a sample rate of 250 Hz and a pair of stereo cameras which are sampled at 16.7 Hz. The data collected from these sensors are processed offline by the data fusion algorithm. To compare the results of our hybrid system to those of a purely optical tracking system, we use only the marker image data to recalculate the sensor unit's position by triangulation.

The experiment we conducted was a fast motion in a horizontal direction starting from a rest position. The sensor unit position was calculated by the hybrid system and by the optical tracking system using the experimental data. The fast motion started right after the optical sample at t1 and the hybrid system detects it at once. The optical tracking system, on the other hand, only sees the motion at the next optical sample time t2.

These results show that our hybrid system is able to follow a fast motion of the sensor unit whereas a purely optical tracking system is not.

The proposed hybrid tracking system calculates position and orientation of any handheld tool at a high frequency of 250 Hz and thus makes it possible to servo-control the tool to keep it in the desired plane.

Several similar systems fusing optical and inertial data have been described in the literature. They all use processed optical data, i.e. 3D marker positions. Our algorithm uses raw image data to considerably reduce computation time. This hybrid tracking system can be used with any handheld tool developed to substitute existing drilling, cutting or milling instruments used in orthopaedic surgery and particularly in arthroplasty.

The sensor unit can be easily implemented into an existing optical tracking system. For the surgeon, the only change is an additional small inertial sensor besides the optical markers already attached to the tool.

The authors would like to thank the AXA Research Fund for funding G.C. Claasen's work with a doctoral grant and Guillaume Picard for his contributions to the experimental setup.

Aim

The aim of the study was to assess the impact of a self aligning unidirectional mobile tibial bearing and the use of a patella button on lateral patella release rates within a knee system using a common femoral component for both the fixed and mobile variants.

C-Arm fluoroscopy is limited by its 2D imaging modality and is incapable of providing accurate 3D quantitative assessment of operative anatomy. In High Tibial Osteotomy (HTO), assessing the distance between the mechanical axis of the leg and the centre of the knee joint is difficult to accomplish due to limited fluoroscopic view size. A previously developed sensor-based tracking system (TC-Arm)adds on to C-arm equipment to provide additional quantitative capabilities. A new image-based tracking module was developed for TC-Arm using a reference panel with an array of fiducial markers. The image analysis software segments the marker positions in each image and identifies image coordinates with respect to the panel. Each image's parameters are identified by 2D-3D matching of the panel's 3D model to the marker's epipolar geometries. Finally, the defined linear transformation matrices are applied for positioning all the fluoroscopic images with respect to the same global reference. A Sawbone model of the leg was used as a phantom and marked with radio-dense fiducial markers at the centres of each joint.

An Optotrak optoelectronic tracking system data was used to validate the new module's functions. First, tracking accuracy was determined by comparing orthogonal-stereo views and the reconstructed positions of the panel's design. Secondly, TC-Arm's results were compared to the corresponding digitised references points on the Sawbone model to calculate errors in the varus/valgus angle and mechanical axis deviation. The new addition to the TC-Arm has a reasonable tracking accuracy (<3.6mm, <4°) considering HTO: The system measured the mechanical axis deviation for HTO application with an accuracy of 1.3 mm and 1.4°. Comparing these results with the acceptable tolerance of less than 10 mm for MAD reported in the literature, our demonstrated results are considered to be within an acceptable range. With the new module, the capability for three-dimensional quantitative assessments of operative anatomies of any size can be added to any C-arm equipment in the OR. This can have great potential for many complex orthopaedic trauma, reconstruction, or preservation surgeries including HTO.

Persistent patellofemoral symptoms can cause patient dissatisfaction after Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA). The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate patellar tracking and patient outcomes utilizing two implant designs in TKA.

Medical records and radiographs of two groups of 100 consecutive patients each were reviewed. All patients underwent posterior stabilized TKA by a single surgeon; using the same operative technique but two different implant designs (Group 1: Asymmetric femoral component with deep congruent trochlear groove and Group 2: Asymmetric femoral component with shallow trochlear groove). Data was collected on demographic characteristics, patellar tilt, displacement, prosthesis-bone angle, HSS Patella Score, Knee Society Knee and Function Score. Patellar tilt more than 5° was considered significant. Statistical analysis was done using the SPSS v.16.0.3 software (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL).

Patients' age and sex were equivalent in the two groups (p>0.57). Median follow up was 2.2 years. Pre-operative incidence of patellar tilt was similar in both groups (18% vs. 17%). After surgery, these values changed to 30% and 77% respectively. This was statistically significant (p<0.001). The Knee Society Knee and Function Score improved significantly in both groups, however the improvement in the function score was significantly greater in the first group (p=0.001). The improvement in Knee Society Knee Score (50.24 and 48.08; p= 0.18) and post-operative HSS Score (93 vs. 91; p=0.19) were not statistically significant.

Our findings suggest that despite using the same operative technique, patellar tracking was significantly different between the two groups, a finding most likely attributable to the design of the femoral component. Whether the difference in patellar maltracking will affect long-term survival of the patellar component remains to be seen.

Introduction

Quadriceps weakness, which is often reported following total knee arthroplasty (TKA), affects patients' abilities to perform activities of daily living [1]. Implant design features, particularly of the patella-femoral joint, influence the mechanical advantage of the extensor mechanism. This study quantifies the changes in extensor mechanism moment arms due to different patellar resurfacing options during TKA.

Infrared marker tracking cameras occupy a significant amount of space in the operating theatre, and require a constant line-of-sight between camera and markers which reduces patient access. We therefore investigate the accuracy of a novel, single, drill-mounted, commercial web camera using augmented reality. The system is built upon the ARToolKit library and provides full six degrees of freedom tracking of the tool relative to fiducial markers.

Tool positioning accuracy was assessed using three methods. Firstly, the camera was displaced linearly along each orthogonal axis, relative to a marker, in 1 mm intervals over a range of 150 mm. Secondly, a 100×100×50 mm pyramidal target with regular measurement points was machined to an accuracy of 10 μm. 108 points were probed with the system producing 100 measurements for each. These were performed with the camera both static and randomly rotated during measurement. Finally, the probe was systematically traced across the surface of the pyramidal target for a period of 5 minutes, resulting in approximately 10,000 positional measurements.

Linear displacements produced RMS precision errors of 1.4 mm along the optical axis at separations above 250 mm, however, these errors reduced to 0.4 mm for separations below 180 mm. Axes orthogonal to the optical axis produced RMS errors of 0.3 mm at approximately 200 mm separation. The point experiment produced a total RMS accuracy error of 1.5 mm while the surface trace experiment produced a total RMS error of 1.7 mm.

The results demonstrate two commonly reported features of existing optical tracking systems. Namely, system accuracy is inversely proportional to camera-marker separation and the optical axis typically presents the lowest accuracy. The drill mounted camera approach capitalises upon this first effect by allowing substantially reduced camera-marker separation, compared to existing systems, particularly during resection.

Without published tool accuracies for existing systems it is difficult to confidently define a success threshold, and with features such as overcutting to facilitate implant cementation the situation is further complicated. However, it is reasonable to suggest that submillimetre accuracies are required for consistently successful arthroplasty. The results currently indicate that the system falls short of this threshold. However, several optimisation techniques have yet to be implemented, including improved camera calibration and increased image resolution.

In conclusion, one-camera augmented reality systems may have the potential to replace the current optical pathway. As such, future work will focus on optimising the system to reach the desired level of accuracy.

Range of motion (ROM) is a well recognised outcome measure following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Reduced knee flexion can lead to poor outcome after TKA and therefore identification at an early stage is important as it may provide a window for intervention with targeted physiotherapy, closer follow-up and in resistant cases possible manipulation or arthrolysis. ROM combines both flexion and extension and in contrast to flexion, fewer studies have recognised the importance of a lack of full extension or fixed flexion deformity (FFD) following TKA. A residual FFD can increase energy cost, decrease velocity during ambulation and result in pain with knee scores more likely to be diminished than if knee extension was normal. Recognition and early detection of FFD is therefore important. Methods of assessment include by visual estimation or goniometric measurement of knee flexion angle. While goniometers are inexpensive, easy to use and provide more accurate than visual estimates of angles, they have been shown to exhibit poor inter-observer reliability. Therefore they may not be sensitive enough to consistently identify FFD and therefore distinguish between grading systems based on absolute angular limits. The aim of this study was to investigate the accuracy of standard clinical ROM measurement techniques following TKA and determine their reliability for recognising FFD.

Ethical approval was obtained for this study. Thirty patients who were six weeks following TKA had their knee ROM measured. An infrared (IR) tracking system (±1°accuracy) that had been validated against an electro-goniometer was used to give a “true” measurement of the lower limb sagittal alignment with the knee fully extended and maximally flexed while the patient was supine. The patients were also assessed independently by experienced arthroplasty practitioners using a standardised goniometric measurement technique. For goniometric clinically-measured flexion (Clin_flex) and extension (Clin_ext) linear models were generated using IR-measured flexion and extension (IR_flex and IR_ext), BMI and gender as covariables. Data for extension were categorised in none, moderate and severe postoperative FFD as per Ritter et al. 2007 and agreement in classification between the two methods was assessed using the Kappa statistic.

For the linear models for Clin_flex and Clin_ext neither BMI nor gender were significant variables. Therefore the final models were:

Clin_flex = 0.54 + 0.66∗IR_flex (r²_adj = 0.521)

Clin_ext = 0.23 + 0.50∗IR_ext (r²_adj = 0.247)

The model for Clin_flex showed that the IR and clinical measurements coincided at approximately 90° so that for every 10° increase in flexion above 90° clinical measurement only increased by 7° but for every 10° decrease in flexion below 90° clinical measurement only decreased by 7°. The model for Clin_ext showed that the IR and clinical measurements coincided at approximately 0° so that for every 10° increase in FFD angle, clinical measurement only increased by 5° but if the knee went into hyperextension this would be underestimated by the clinical measure. In identifying FFD there was moderate agreement between the two measurements (κ = 0.44). Clinically nine patients were assessed as having FFD but the IR measurements showed 18 patients having FFD, of which nine patients were not identified clinically.

When assessing knee ROM following joint arthroplasty manual goniometric measurements provided a poor estimate of the range when compared to the “true” angle as measured with a validated IR measurement tool. When the knee was held in maximum flexion there was a tendency to both underestimate and overestimate the true angle. However when the knee was held in extension there was a tendency to underestimate which we believe is important as it would underreport both the frequency and magnitude of FFD. In our study, 18 patients had a moderate FFD as identified by the IR system, only half of which were identified by goniometer measurement alone. Studies of comparisons of both visual and manual goniometry measurements of the knee in maximum flexion with lateral radiographs have shown most errors involved an underestimate of true flexion. It has been concluded that it was safer to underestimate knee flexion angle as it would result in higher pick up rate of cases being performing less well. In contrast however, underestimation while in extension is less desirable as it fails to pick-up FFD which may have benefited from intervention had they been identified. It is known that residual FFD can increase energy cost and decrease velocity during ambulation with pain and functional knee scores more likely to be reduced. Recognition and early detection is therefore important. With the use of more accurate systems to identify and measure FFD, such as the one used for this study may in turn allow more timely treatment and therefore hopefully improved outcomes.

During total knee replacement (TKR), surgical navigation systems (SNS) allow accurate prosthesis component implantation by tracking the tibio-femoral joint (TFJ) kinematics in the original articulation at the beginning of the operation, after relevant trial components implantation, and, ultimately, after final component implantation and cementation. It is known that TKR also alters normal patello-femoral joint (PFJ) kinematics resulting frequently in PFJ disorders and TKR failure. More importantly, patellar tracking in case of resurfacing is further affected by patellar bone preparation and relevant component positioning. The traditional technique used to perform patellar resurfacing, even in navigated TKR, is based only on visual inspection of the patellar articular aspect for clamping patellar cutting jig and on a simple calliper to check for patellar thickness before and after bone cut, and, thus, without any computer assistance. Even though the inclusion in in-vivo navigated TKR of a procedure for supporting also patellar resurfacing based on patient-specific bone morphology seems fundamental, this have been completely disregarded till now, whose efficacy being assessed only in-vitro. This procedure has been developed, together with relevant software and surgical instrumentation, as an extension of current SNS, i.e. TKR is navigated, at the same time measuring the effects of every surgical action on PFJ kinematics. The aim of this study was to report on the first in-vivo experiences during TKR with patellar resurfacing.

Four patients affected by primary gonarthrosis were implanted with a fixed bearing posterior-stabilised prosthesis (NRG, Stryker®-Orthopaedics, Mahwah, NJ-USA) with patellar resurfacing. All TKR were performed by means of two SNS (Stryker®-Leibinger, Freiburg, Germany) with the standard femoral/tibial trackers, the pointer, and a specially-designed patellar tracker. The novel procedure for patellar tracking was approved by the local ethical committee; the patients gave informed consent prior the surgery. This procedure implies the use of a second system, i.e. the patellar SNS (PSNS), with dedicated software for supporting patellar resurfacing and relative data processing/storing, in addition to the traditional knee SNS (KSNS). TFJ anatomical survey and kinematics data are shared between the two. Before surgery, both systems were initialised and the patellar tracker was assembled with a sterile procedure by shaping a metal grid mounted with three markers to be tracked by PSNS only. The additional patellar-resection-plane and patellar-cut-verification probes were instrumented with a standard tracker and a relevant reference frame was defined on these by digitisation with PSNS. Afterwards, the procedures for standard navigation were performed to calculate preoperative joint deformities and TFJ kinematics. The anatomical survey was performed also with PSNS, with relevant patellar anatomical reference frame definition and PFJ kinematics assessment according to a recent proposal. Standard procedures for femoral and tibial component implantation, and TFJ kinematics assessment were then performed by using relevant trial components. Afterwards, the procedure for patellar resection begun. Once the surgeon had arranged and fixed the patellar cutting jig at the desired position, the patellar-resection-plane probe was inserted into the slot for the saw blade. With this in place, the PSNS captured tracker data to calculate the planned level of patellar bone cut and the patellar cut orientation. Then the cut was executed, and the accuracy of this actual bone cut was assessed by means of the patellar-cut-verification probe. The trial patellar component was positioned, and, with all three trial components in place, TFJ and PFJ kinematics were assessed. Possible adjustments in component positioning could still be performed, until both kinematics were satisfactory. Finally, final components were implanted and cemented, and final TFJ and PFJ kinematics were acquired. A sterile calliper and pre- and post-implantation lower limb X-rays were used to check for the patellar thickness and final lower limb alignment. The novel surgical technique was performed successfully in all four cases without complication, resulting in 30 min longer TKR. The final lower limb alignment was within 0.5°, the resurfaced patella was 0.4±1.3 mm thinner than in the native, the patellar cut was 1.5°±3.0° laterally tilted. PFJ kinematics was taken within the reference normality. The patella implantation parameters were confirmed also by X-ray inspection; discrepancies in thickness up to 5 mm were observed between SNS- and calliper-based measurements.

At the present experimental phase, a second separate PSNS was utilised not to affect the standard navigated TKR. The results reported support relevance, feasibility and efficacy of patellar tracking and PFJ kinematics assessment in in-vivo navigated TKR. The encouraging in-vivo results may lay ground for the design of a future clinical patella navigation system the surgeon could use to perform a more comprehensive assessment of the original whole knee anatomy and kinematics, i.e. including also PFJ. Patellar bone preparation would be supported for suitable patellar component positioning in case of resurfacing but, conceptually, also in not resurfacing if patellar anatomy and tracking assessment by SNS reveals no abnormality. After suitable adjustment and further tests, in the future if this procedure will be routinely applied during navigated TKR, abnormalities at both TFJ and PFJ can be corrected intra-operatively by more cautious bone cut preparation on the femur, tibia and also patella, in case of resurfacing, and by correct prosthetic component positioning.

Measurements of shoulder kinematics during activities of daily living (ADL) can be used to evaluate patient function before and after treatment and help define device testing conditions. However, due to the difficulties of making 3D motion measurements outside of laboratory conditions, there are few reports of measured shoulder 3D kinematics during ADL. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of using wearable inertial measurement units (IMUs) to track shoulder joint angles.

A nonrandom sample of 5 subjects with normal shoulders was selected based on occupation. The occupations were: dental hygienist, primary school teacher, mechanical project engineer, administrative assistant, and retail associate. Subjects wore two OPAL IMUs (APDM, Portland OR) as shown in Figure 1 on the sternum and on the upper arm for approximately 4 hours while at their workplace performing their normal work place activities and then up to 4 hours while off-work.

Orientation angles from IMUs have traditionally been estimated by integrating gyroscope data and calculating inclination angles relative to gravity with accelerometers. A significant problem is that inaccuracies inherent in the measurements can degrade accuracy. In this study, we used an Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) with IMU output to track shoulder angles. The UKF mitigates the effect of random drift by incorporating domain knowledge about the shoulder normal range of motion, and the gyroscope and accelerometer characteristics into the state-space models. Initially, in the horizontal plane, without gravity measurements from the accelerometer to aid the gyroscope data, there were unacceptable errors in transverse rotation. To mitigate this error, additional constraints were applied to model gyroscope drift and a zero velocity update strategy was included. These additions decreased tracker errors in heading by 63%. The resulting accuracy with the modified tracker in all motion planes was about 2° (Figure 2).

Subjects commented that the IMUs were well tolerated and did not interfere with their ability to perform tasks in a normal manner. The overall averaged 95th percentile angles (Figure 3) were: flexion 128.8°, adduction 128.4°, and external rotation 69.5°. These peaks angles are similar to other investigator's reports using laboratory simulations of ADL tasks measured with optical and electromagnetic technologies, though this study's observations did show 17% greater extension and 40% greater adduction. Additionally, in these observations, occurrences of maximal internal rotation were rare compared to maximal external rotation and when maximum external rotation did occur, it was in combination with an average flexion angle of 103°. Finally, by performing a Fourier transform of the arm angles and using the 50th percentile frequency the number of arm cycles in a 10 year period was calculated at over 600,000 cycles.

Application of the UKF with the additional drift correction made substantial improvements in shoulder tracking performance and this feasibility data suggests that IMUs with the UKF are suitable for extended use outside of laboratory settings. The motion data collected provides a novel description of arm motion during ADLs including estimating the cycle count of the upper arm at more than 600,000 cycles over 10 years.

Introduction

Overstuffing the patellofemoral joint during total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is considered a potential cause of limited knee flexion and patellar maltracking. We investigated the effect of patellar thickness on intraoperative knee flexion and patellar tracking in navigated TKA.