Development of an imageless navigation system for total knee arthroplasty.

Will being an important part of modern operation room, in recent years computer-aided technology has become more and more integrated in different surgical procedures, such as brain, spine, ENT, hip, knee etc. A vast number of papers have been published on computer assisted knee surgery recently with inspiring clinical results, such as more precise alignment and more minimally invasive. An innovative and universal image-free computer-aided TKA system is introduced in this article. Through dynamic, detailed navigation screens, instruments are accurately depicted in relation to a patient's anatomy to aid femoral and tibial osteotomy, so intramedullary hole drilling and ankle clamp attaching have been avoided. Undermentioned functions are also realized: base kinematics, postoperative kinematics, soft tissue balancing.