Numerical Investigation of the Interdependence between Humeral Implant Position and Bone Removal Amount for Total Elbow Arthroplasty
Abstract
Total elbow arthroplasty is a surgical procedure used to replace an afflicted articulation with prosthetic joint components. A good alignment between the native and prosthetic flexion-extension axes of the elbow is required to preserve its functionality. However, this is often unobtainable because of the mismatch between humeral canal and implant stem geometries. To correct this, surgeons are often required to intraoperatively make error-prone decisions when determining an appropriate implant posture that minimizes the amount of cortical bone to be removed while maintaining the alignment between the two flexion-extension axes. To address this issue, the present study has developed computational tools to be used preoperatively to assess the relationship between bone removal and implant malalignment magnitudes; the overall objectives being related to their individual or simultaneous minimization. The results presented determine an optimized implant position for 3 bone samples minimizing the implant interference and implant malalignment.