Importance

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Abstract

A device for determining the isometric point of a knee cruciate ligament replacement in a femur after a tibial tunnel has been prepared by attaching a screw to an estimated placement point on the femur with a strand attached to the screw and extending away therefrom. The device comprises a holder, a driver disposed in the holder to engage and drive the screw into the femur, a fitting for positioning the holder to the mouth of the tunnel on the outer anterior tibial surface, a gauge calibrated to provide a selected tension on the strand, and means for attaching the gauge to the holder. The gauge comprises an excursion scale to indicate the movement of the strand when the knee is flexed, a spring for applying a selected tension to the strand, and a gripper for the strand. The holder and the gauge are configured to hold the strand as it extends away from the screw through the tibial tunnel to the gauge, whereby, when the strand is gripped to the spring to have the selected tension thereon and the knee is flexed, the excursion of the point at which the screw is attached will be represented on the excursion scale.

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First Claim