Abstract: A method for treating a patient suffering from osteoarthritis and an internal brace for distraction arthroplasty including femoral and tibial components which can be fixed to a patient's femur and tibia and which in combination distract or separate the knee joint without substantially hindering mobility of the knee.

Abstract: A method for treating a patient suffering from osteoarthritis and an internal brace for distraction arthroplasty including femoral and tibial components which can be fixed to a patient's femur and tibia and which in combination distract or separate the knee joint without substantially hindering mobility of the knee.

Abstract: An internal brace for distraction arthroplasty includes femoral and tibial components which can be fixed to a patient's femur and tibia and which in combination distract or separate the knee joint without substantially hindering mobility of the knee.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an internal or external knee brace having a polycentric joint that enables control of a predetermined helicoidal motion and which permits compression and distraction of the knee joint. The knee brace includes a femoral component having a femoral joint member having at least one mating surface with a predetermined contour, and a stem projecting from the femoral joint member for attachment to the femur. The knee brace further includes a tibial component having a tibial joint member having at least one bearing surface for contact with the mating surface of the femoral component, and a stem projecting from the tibial joint member for attachment to the tibia. The joint members are arranged in a mounting member which has a spring or other resilient member located at one end which biases the tibial component toward the femoral component. The femoral component is fixed in the mounting member and the tibial component is rotatable relative to the fixed femoral component.

Abstract: A fixture is attached to the bones using external fixation techniques to trace a representation of the polycentric motion of a joint. The fixture has two plates attached to bones on respective sides of the joint. The plates are unconnected to each other and free to move relative to each other. The motion may be recorded using a stylus that traces a track in a deformable medium.