Innovative total knee arthroplasty removal system

The goal of this project was to develop a system that removes a patellar implant during a total knee arthroplasty revision surgery. Two techniques were developed in order to accomplish patellar removal. The first uses the concept of crack propagation, which weakens the bond between the original bone and the implant. Bone which has ingrown to a cementless implant may not cleanly separate from the original bone, causing excess bone to be removed from the patella. This separation is accomplished using cyclic loading. The second technique is based on extraction and will use a tool which inserts concentric blades into the interface between the patellar implant and the patellar bone. By combining these two techniques, the revision of the implant will result in minimal bone loss and risk to the patient.