| abstract |
A universal positioning block for use in bone surgery, permitting up to six degrees-of-freedom movement relative to a bone element to which it is fixed. The positioning block comprises a main block element that is releasably engageable to the bone element such that the main block element is rotatable in a flexion-extension rotation plane and translatable along a medio-lateral axis relative to the bone element. A slider element is engaged with the main block element such that it is translatable along an antero-posterior axis and rotatable in a varus-valgus rotation plane relative thereto and a holder element is engaged with the slider element such that it is translatable relative thereto along a proximal-distal axis and may also further be rotatable in a medio-lateral rotation plane, the holder element being habilitated for engaging a surgical tool guide element. |