Total knee replacement (TKR) is globally recognized as a premier surgical intervention for alleviating end-stage joint arthritis, restoring mobility to hundreds of thousands of patients annually. Yet, despite decades of design iterations and advanced multi-modal developments, the industry faces an unyielding clinical boundary: up to 20% of patients remain highly dissatisfied with their terminal function or residual pain scores.
The primary culprit behind early catastrophic failure isn’t the raw meta, it’s the soft tissue layout. Suboptimal or asymmetric ligamentous balance directly triggers accelerated prosthetic loosening, dynamic joint instability, and extreme localized polyethylene wear. Currently, verifying joint balance relies almost entirely on the subjective, tactile “feel” and personal experience of the operating surgeon.
