Artificial total knee designs have revolutionized over time, yet 20% of the population still report dissatisfaction. The standard implants fail to replicate native knee kinematic functionality due to mismatch of condylar surfaces and non-anatomically placed implantation. (Daggett et al 2016; Saigo et al 2017). It is essential that the implant surface matches the native knee to prevent Instability and soft tissue impingement. Our goal is to use computational modeling to determine the ideal shapes and orientations of anatomically-shaped components and test the accuracy of fit of component surfaces. One hundred MRI scans of knees with early osteoarthritis were obtained from the NIH Osteoarthritis Initiative, converted into 3D meshes, and aligned via an anatomic coordinate system algorithm. Geomagic Design X software was used to determine the average anterior-posterior (AP) length. Each knee was then scaled in three dimensions to match the average AP length. Geomagic's least-squares algorithm was used to create an average surface model. This method was validated by generating a statistical shaped model using principal component analysis (PCA) to compare to the least square's method. The averaged knee surface was used to design component system sizing schemes of 1, 3, 5, and 7 (fig 1). A further fifty arthritic knees were modeled to test the accuracy of fit for all component sizing schemes. Standard deviation maps were created using Geomagic to analyze the error of fit of the implant surface compared to the native femur surface.Background
Methods
The major loss of articular cartilage in medial osteoarthritis occurs in a central band on the distal femur, and in the center of the tibial plateau (Figure). This is consistent with varus deformity due to cartilage loss and meniscal degeneration, together with the sliding regions in walking. Treatment at an early stage such as KL grade 2 or 3, has the advantages of little bone deformity and cruciate preservation, and could be accomplished by resurfacing only the arthritic areas with Early Intervention (EI) components. Such components would need to be geometrically compatible with the surrounding bearing surfaces, to preserve continuity and stability. However because of the relatively small surface area covered, compared with total knees and even unicompartmentals, it is hypothesized that EI components will be an accurate fit on a population of knees with only a small number of sizes, and that accuracy can be maintained without requiring right-left components. We examined this hypothesis using unique design and methodology. Average femur and tibia models, including cartilage, were generated from MRI scans of 20 normal males. The images were imported into Geomagic software. Surface point clouds based on least squares algorithms produced the average models. Averages were also produced from different numbers to determine method validity. Average arthritic models were also generated from 12 KL 1–2 cases, and 13 KL 2–3 cases. The 3 averages were compared by deviation mapping. Using the average from the 20 knees, femoral and tibial implant surfaces were designed using contour matching to fit the arthritic regions, maintaining right-left symmetry. A 5 size system was designed corresponding to large male, average male, small male/large female, average female, small female. For the 20 knees, the components were fitted based on the best possible matching of the contours to the surrounding bearing surfaces. For the femoral component the target was 1 mm projection at the center, matching at the ends. The accuracy of reproducing the cartilage surfaces was then determined by mapping the deviations between the implant surfaces and the cartilage surfaces.INTRODUCTION
METHODS
