Computer-assisted knee anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: First clinical tests

Abstract

Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction is a delicate task. The procedure of choice is the patellar tendon bone autograft, but an anisometric position of this tendon often leads to failure. We propose a method that allows positioning of the central part of the ligament graft at the least anisometric sites. The system uses a workstation and a three-dimensional optical localizer to create images that represent knee kinematics. The surgeon uses these images to guide the surgery. This technique has been validated on eight cadavers and 12 patients. J Image Guid Surg 1:59-64 (1995). © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.