Studies indicate that obtaining an optimal cup orientation is also one of the most challenging aspects of a total hip replacement surgery:

20 to 53% of conventional freehand total hip replacement surgeries result in a cup orientation that deviates more than 10° from the intended cup orientation.

The Materialise ACO System: fast and user-friendly planning software and patient-specific surgical guides

The ACO guides place a visual alignment pin in an orientation that corresponds to the intended orientation of the cup implant. This pin does not interfere with the normal surgical procedure of Total Hip Arthroplasty and requires only limited additional surgery time.

The usage of the Materialise ACO System offers a reliable visual reference to align the impactor to, independent of whether the patient is oriented accurately on the operating table.

This helps surgeons achieve accurate cup orientation, in turn helping to reduce dislocation rate and impingement, and prevent accelerated wear and early failure of the implant.

In addition to this, pre-surgical implant sizing offers important logistical advantages to hospitals and hip implants manufacturers in terms of cost-saving, by reducing the amount of implant sizes that need to be available.