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A New Alignment Philosophy Feature for Total Knee Arthroplasty Planning in ZBEdge® Analytics
Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA) continues to evolve as orthopedic surgeons look for approaches that better reflect individual patient anatomy and surgical philosophy. The latest addition to ZBEdge® Analytics, the Alignment Philosophy feature, offers a new way to review and visualise the impact of planning decisions in TKA.
The feature uses aggregated knee planning data to identify which alignment philosophy a surgeon's planning most closely reflects. Recognised philosophies include Mechanical Alignment (MA), Kinematic Alignment (KA), Restricted Kinematic Alignment (rKA), Functional Alignment (FA), Adjusted MA Femur (AMA-F), and Adjusted MA Tibia (AMA-T), drawing on frameworks described in the orthopaedic literature.1,2
ZBEdge Analytics is intended to connect planning decisions to outcomes. Surgeons can observe whether shifts in alignment philosophy are potentially associated with changes in clinical results within their own case data, creating a basis for a structured, iterative learning cycle rather than a one-off review.
When exploring a different alignment approach, ROSA® Knee with OptimiZe™ can support the translation of that philosophy into defined surgical targets and boundaries within the workflow. The combination of forward planning and retrospective outcome comparison is designed to give surgeons a more complete picture of their own practice.
The Alignment Philosophy feature reflects a broader move toward data-informed, personalised approaches in orthopedic surgery and can give those who want to critically review their planning an additional, structured way to do so.
