One of the most important treatments for end-stage osteoarthritis and some forms of destructive arthritis is artificial joint replacement, but modern knee replacements are not really “joint replacements”. It is not, as one might think, like replacing an axle in a car, where the patient’s joint is removed and “replaced with an artificial axle”. In fact, today’s artificial knee replacements are not an “axle replacement”, but simply a “joint surface” that is still the patient’s joint. This is like replacing a worn axle with a set of “shims” or a set of “braces” for a bad tooth. Therefore, the procedure is not as scary as one might think. Artificial joint replacement is one of the greatest breakthroughs in orthopedic surgery in the last century, and the artificial knee technique is one of the most successful of all artificial joint replacements. Although this technique is more difficult than the “shaft replacement” knee, it is less invasive, has a faster recovery, and has a longer life expectancy. Especially important is the ease of “revision” when the joint surface fails during use. This technology is now well established. In the western developed world, artificial knee replacement is the most common of all artificial joint technologies. In the United States, 500,000 patients received artificial knee replacements last year alone! This has been done in China for 15 years and is a common surgical treatment in the joint surgery departments of major hospitals in central cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.