There is great interest in technologies to improve the accuracy and precision in placing implants for total hip arthroplasty (THA). Malik et al. (J Arthroplasty, 2010) showed that an imageless navigation system could be used to produce accurate measures of acetabular cup alignment compared to a CT-based alignment method using an imaging phantom. In this study we sought to compare the precision of an image-based navigation system with post-operative CT scans in a clinical patient cohort who received navigation-assisted THA. Eighteen patients with 20 hips consented to this IRB-approved analysis of intra- and post-operative THA cup alignment. All patients received THA with image-assisted alignment (MAKO Surgical, Fort Lauderdale). Nominal cup placement, subject to intraoperative surgeon adjustment and approval, was 40° radiographic inclination (RI) and 20° radiographic anteversion (RA) according to the definitions of Murray (JBJS-Br, 1993). Intraoperative cup alignment was measured by collecting five points on the cup rim with an optically tracked stylus. Postoperative cup alignment was measured by registering pre- and post-operative pelvic models generated from CT scans, and determining the postoperative cup orientation relative to the pre-operative pelvis coordinate system (Figure 1). Repeated measures testing of the CT-based measurements on 10 patient scans showed precision and bias of 0.7° and 0° for radiographic inclination, and 0.6° and 0.1° for radiographic anteversion.Introduction
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