In-situ 3D printing cartilage repair device and method

Abstract

The present invention discloses an in-situ 3D printing cartilage repair device and method, the device includes a lens, a raw material container, a curing light source, an adapter, an optical fiber, a three-way head, a push plate, a module, an injection needle, a pressing plate and a mechanical arm; the lens is fixed inside the three-way head through a U-shaped slot, the three-way head is connected to the optical fiber through a thread, the optical fiber is connected to the curing light source through a thread, the curing light source is connected to the adapter through a bolt, the module is connected to the adapter through a bolt nut, the push plate is connected to the module through a bolt nut, the adapter is connected to the mechanical arm through a bolt, the raw material container is connected to the module through a pressing plate, and the injection needle is connected to the raw material container through a thread. The present invention controls a 6-axis mechanical arm by digital means to drive the printing nozzle to directly print and repair in situ at the cartilage defect, the process is simple, the manual intervention time is short, and high-precision in-situ 3D printing and precise repair of multiple biomaterials and multiple structures can be achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of additive manufacturing technology, and specifically relates to an in-situ 3D printing cartilage repair device and method. Background Art

[0002] Traditional cartilage repair techniques include bone marrow stimulation and mosaicplasty. Bone marrow stimulation stimulates cartilage healing by drilling, abrasion or microfracture of the subchondral bone, while mosaicplasty achieves the purpose of cartilage healing by digging out non-movement joint cartilage to fill the cartilage injury. Traditional cartilage repair technology is a destructive way to achieve the purpose of cartilage repair, which causes certain damage to the human body.

[0003] The new cartilage repair technology is a tissue engineering technology that adds biomaterials inoculated with chondrocytes to the damaged cartilage and directly implants them. The existing technology is mainly based on the cartilage repair method of handheld 3D printing equipment. The main process is that the clinician uses a handheld bio-gun to directly add repair materials to the damaged cartilage to achieve the purpose of treatment. However, this method of using a doctor's handheld bio-gun cannot guarantee the repair accuracy requirements, and can only print and repair cartilage defects of simple shapes, which cannot meet the complex internal environment of the human body. Summary of the invention

[0004] The main purpose of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings and deficiencies of the prior art and to propose an in situ 3D printing cartilage repair device and method, which can achieve the purpose of accurately modifying cartilage tissue by precisely controlling the robotic arm through digital means.

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] An in-situ 3D printing cartilage repair device, connected to a main control board, includes a lens, a raw material container, a curing light source, an adapter frame, an optical fiber, a three-way head, a push plate, a module, an injection needle, a pressing plate, and a mechanical arm;

[0007] The lens is fixed inside the three-way head through a U-shaped slot, the three-way head is connected to the optical fiber through a thread, the optical fiber is connected to the curing light source through a thread, the curing light source is connected to the adapter frame through bolts, the module is connected to the adapter frame through bolts and nuts, the push plate is connected to the module through bolts and nuts, the adapter frame is connected to the robot arm through bolts, the raw material container is fixedly connected to the module through the pressing plate, and the injection needle is connected to the raw material container through threads;

[0008] The light source enters the three-way head through the optical fiber, the lens focuses the light source and emits it from the side to illuminate the top of the injection needle, the module pushes the raw material container through the push plate, the raw material flows out of the injection needle, and solidifies while being injected under the light, and the printing process cooperates with the robotic arm to control the printing position and printing direction.

[0009] Furthermore, the module includes a stepper motor, a guide rail, a slide, a screw, a coupling and a bracket. The stepper motor is connected to the screw through a coupling, the stepper motor and the guide rail are connected to the bracket through bolts and nuts, the slide and the guide rail cooperate to make the slide slide on the guide rail, and the slide and the screw transmit power through a screw pair.

[0010] Furthermore, under the control of the main control board, the stepper motor rotates a specific angle, and controls the push plate to advance a specific translation distance through the screw transmission, thereby extruding the corresponding printing raw material.

[0011] Furthermore, the raw material container specifically adopts a replaceable syringe.

[0012] Furthermore, the syringe and the adapter frame are specifically connected via two pressing plates, and the pushing end of the syringe and the pushing plate of the module are connected via the pressing plates.

[0013] Furthermore, the robotic arm is a 6-axis robotic arm, which is used to accurately control the printing position and printing direction of the injection needle.

[0014] Furthermore, the curing light source specifically adopts blue light.

[0015] The present invention also includes a cartilage repair method based on the provided in situ 3D printed cartilage repair device, comprising the following steps:

[0016] Use medical imaging equipment to scan the damaged tissue, build a physical model of the damaged tissue and a model of the part to be repaired on the computer software, and the slicing software generates corresponding printing programs according to different conditions, and imports the programs into the main control board;

[0017] Install the syringe containing the repair raw material onto the adapter through the pressing plate, and control the stepper motor to rotate to the required specific angle so that the pushing plate and the extrusion end of the syringe are in close contact;

[0018] Under the control of the main control board, the 6-axis robotic arm makes precise movements and moves the injection needle to the initial position and direction of printing;

[0019] Under the control of the main control board, the stepper motor pushes the syringe through the push plate, pushing the repair raw materials in the syringe into the three-way head and the injection needle. The raw materials flow out from the top of the injection needle, and at the same time, the blue light is finally focused on the top of the injection needle through the optical fiber and lens;

[0020] Under the control of the main control board, the 6-axis robotic arm cooperates with the module to deliver the repair raw materials to the damaged cartilage and complete photopolymerization curing under blue light irradiation. According to the printing program, it prints layer by layer to achieve cartilage damage repair;

[0021] After the cartilage repair printing is completed, the injection needle leaves the printing position, and the main control board controls the stepper motor to reverse, so that the push plate pulls the pushing end of the syringe in the opposite direction, and the supply of repair raw materials stops.

[0022] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages and beneficial effects:

[0023] 1. The present invention uses a robotic arm to drive the print head to directly print and repair in situ at the cartilage defect. The process is simple and the manual intervention time is short. The 6-axis robotic arm in situ 3D printing technology controlled by digital means can achieve high-precision in situ 3D printing and precise repair of a variety of biomaterials and structures.

[0024] 2. The present invention uses syringes to store raw materials, which has the advantages of convenient replacement, easy storage, and controllable materials. To print different materials, it is only necessary to directly replace the syringe without replacing the rest of the printer mechanism.

[0025] 3. The present invention uses a module to extrude materials, so that the raw materials are supplied evenly and orderly. The module can also be used to retract the materials after printing, and the feeding structure is compact. A 6-axis robotic arm is used to drive the feeding device to replace the traditional handheld 3D printing gun, with high printing accuracy and fast printing speed.

[0026] 4. The present invention uses an optical fiber to transmit the blue light emitted by the blue light source to the lens to focus the blue light, so that the blue light is focused and irradiated on the printing material of the injection needle, so that the energy density is higher and the coagulation range is more precise. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Figure 1 It is the overall structural diagram of the device of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 2 is a partial view of the print head of the device of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 3 It is a partial view of the three-way connector of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 4 is a flow chart of the method of the present invention;

[0031] Description of the accompanying drawings: 1-robot arm; 2-adapter frame; 3-blue light source; 4-optical fiber; 5-module; 6-push plate; 7-pressing plate; 8-syringe; 9-three-way head; 10-injection needle; 11-lens. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with embodiments and drawings, but the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto.

[0033] Example

[0034] like Figure 1 , Figure 2 as well as Figure 3 As shown, the present invention, an in-situ 3D printing cartilage repair device, includes a mechanical arm 1, an adapter frame 2, a blue light source 3, an optical fiber 4, a module 5, a push plate 6, a pressure plate 7, a syringe 8, a three-way head 9, an injection needle 10 and a lens 11, wherein the lens 11 is fixed inside the three-way head 9 through a U-shaped slot, the three-way head 9 is threadedly connected to the optical fiber 4, the optical fiber 4 is threadedly connected to the blue light source 3, the blue light source 3 is bolted to the adapter frame 2, the module 5 is connected to the adapter frame 2 through bolts and nuts, the push plate 6 is connected to the module 5 through bolts and nuts, the syringe 8 is connected to the module through the pressure plate 7, the injection needle 10 is threadedly connected to the syringe 8, and the adapter frame 2 is connected to the mechanical arm 1 through bolts; the syringe 8 is connected to the adapter frame through two pressure plates 7, and the extrusion end of the syringe 8 is connected to the push plate of the module 5 through the pressure plate 7.

[0035] In this embodiment, the device of the present invention is connected to the main control board and works in conjunction with the main control board.

[0036] like Figure 2 As shown, in this embodiment, the module includes a stepper motor, a guide rail, a slide, a screw, a coupling and a bracket. The stepper motor is connected to the screw through a coupling, and the stepper motor and the guide rail are connected to the bracket through bolts and nuts. The slide and the guide rail cooperate to enable the slide to slide on the guide rail, and the slide and the screw transmit power through a screw pair; the stepper motor rotates a specific angle under the control of the main control board, and controls the push plate to advance a specific translation distance through the screw transmission, so as to accurately extrude the corresponding printing raw materials, and the translation distance of the push end is controlled by controlling the rotation angle of the stepper motor to achieve the control of the extrusion amount of the repair material.

[0037] like Figure 1 The robotic arm is a 6-axis robotic arm, which is used to accurately control the printing position and printing direction of the injection needle.

[0038] In this embodiment, if Figure 3 As shown, the three-way head converges the blue light generated by the blue light source through the lens, so that the generated blue light is concentrated and emitted to the top of the injection needle, and the final focusing point matches the printing position of the injection needle.

[0039] The present invention also provides a cartilage repair method based on the above embodiment, such as Figure 4 As shown, the following steps are included:

[0040] S1. Use medical imaging equipment to scan the damaged tissue, build a physical model of the damaged part of the tissue and a model of the part to be repaired on the computer software, use the slicing software to generate corresponding printing programs according to different conditions, and import the programs into the main control board;

[0041] S2. Install the syringe filled with the repair raw material onto the adapter through the pressing plate, and control the rotation angle of the module stepper motor so that the push plate is in close contact with the extrusion end of the syringe, and a very small amount of repair material flows out of the injection needle, thereby avoiding no material flowing out after printing starts.

[0042] Under the control of the main control board, the S3, 6-axis robotic arm makes precise movements to move the injection needle to the initial position and direction of printing.

[0043] S4, under the control of the main control board, the stepper motor accurately pushes the syringe through the push plate, pushing the raw material in the syringe into the three-way head and the injection needle, and the raw material flows out from the top of the injection needle. At the same time, the blue light is finally focused on the top of the injection needle through the optical fiber and the lens, so that the repair raw material undergoes photopolymerization reaction and solidifies under the irradiation of the focused blue light;

[0044] Under the control of the main control board, the S5 and 6-axis robotic arms work precisely with the module to deliver the repair raw materials precisely to the damaged cartilage location and complete photopolymerization curing;

[0045] S6. Print layer by layer according to the printing program generated by the slicing software until the printing is completed, thus realizing the digital and precise repair of cartilage damage;

[0046] S7. After the cartilage repair printing is completed, the stepper motor is controlled to reverse, so that the push plate pulls the pushing end of the syringe in the opposite direction, thereby achieving the purpose of immediately stopping the supply of materials after the printing is completed.

[0047] In order to better demonstrate the technical solution of the present invention, the repair of knee cartilage tissue is taken as an example for further explanation. Tissue repair in organisms is extremely complex and difficult to repair. The same part of different organisms and different parts of the same organism may be different, and the accuracy of the repair must be guaranteed so that the repaired part can reach a state of complete recovery, otherwise it will be counterproductive. Although the doctor can handle complex situations by holding a biological gun to repair tissue, its accuracy cannot be guaranteed; and the cooperation of ordinary three-axis printers and biological guns, although the accuracy is guaranteed, cannot adapt to the repair of complex curved surface structures of tissues; and the present invention has the ability to solve complex repair work on the basis of ensuring the repair accuracy. Specifically, for clinical practicality, image registration needs to be completed automatically and in real time. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to measure the geometric shape information of the surgical object in real time during the operation. This embodiment uses ultrasonic imaging technology, combined with the robot joint position sensor information to quantitatively measure the intraoperative environment, and uses ultrasonic sensors combined with robot kinematic equations to complete bone surface shape extraction. By adjusting the frequency of ultrasonic waves, penetration effects of different depths can be achieved, and ultrasound can be used to obtain bone surface information wrapped by tissues, thereby extracting three-dimensional feature shapes. After obtaining the surface shape of the surgical object, the shape matching algorithm is used to perform surface matching to complete the mapping between the image coordinate system and the robot coordinate system. The repair model is imported into the corresponding printing software to generate the corresponding drive signal to move the 6-axis robotic arm and accurately and efficiently repair the damaged cartilage tissue according to the optimal 3D in-situ repair printing trajectory.

[0048] It should also be noted that in this specification, terms such as "comprises", "includes" or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also includes other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of more restrictions, an element defined by the sentence "comprises a ..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the element.

[0049] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables those skilled in the art to implement or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention will not be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but rather to the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. An in-situ 3D printed cartilage repair device connected to a main control board, characterized in that: Including lens, raw material container, curing light source, adapter frame, optical fiber, three-way head, push plate, module, injection needle, pressure plate and robotic arm; The lens is fixed inside the three-way head through a U-shaped slot, the three-way head is connected to the optical fiber through a thread, the optical fiber is connected to the curing light source through a thread, the curing light source is connected to the adapter frame through bolts, the module is connected to the adapter frame through bolts and nuts, the push plate is connected to the module through bolts and nuts, the adapter frame is connected to the robot arm through bolts, the raw material container is fixedly connected to the module through the pressing plate, and the injection needle is connected to the raw material container through threads; The light source enters the three-way head through the optical fiber, the lens focuses the light source and emits it from the side to illuminate the top of the injection needle. The module pushes the raw material container through the push plate, and the raw material flows out of the injection needle and solidifies while being injected under the light. The printing process cooperates with the mechanical arm to control the printing position and printing direction; The module includes a stepper motor, a guide rail, a slide, a screw, a coupling and a bracket. The stepper motor is connected to the screw through the coupling, the stepper motor and the guide rail are connected to the bracket through bolts and nuts, the slide and the guide rail are matched to make the slide slide on the guide rail, and the slide and the screw transmit power through a screw pair; The stepper motor rotates a specific angle under the control of the main control board, and controls the push plate to advance a specific translation distance through the screw transmission, thereby extruding the corresponding printing raw material; The raw material container specifically adopts a replaceable syringe.

2. The in-situ 3D printed cartilage repair device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The syringe and the adapter frame are specifically connected via two pressing plates, and the pushing end of the syringe and the pushing plate of the module are connected via the pressing plates.

3. The in-situ 3D printed cartilage repair device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The robotic arm is a 6-axis robotic arm, which is used to accurately control the printing position and printing direction of the injection needle.

4. The in-situ 3D printed cartilage repair device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The curing light source specifically adopts blue light.

5. A cartilage repair method based on the in situ 3D printed cartilage repair device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Use medical imaging equipment to scan the damaged tissue, build a physical model of the damaged tissue and a model of the part to be repaired on the computer software, and the slicing software generates corresponding printing programs according to different conditions, and imports the programs into the main control board; Install the syringe containing the repair raw material onto the adapter through the pressing plate, and control the stepper motor to rotate to the required specific angle so that the pushing plate and the extrusion end of the syringe are in close contact; Under the control of the main control board, the 6-axis robotic arm makes precise movements and moves the injection needle to the initial position and direction of printing; Under the control of the main control board, the stepper motor pushes the syringe through the push plate, pushing the repair raw materials in the syringe into the three-way head and the injection needle. The raw materials flow out from the top of the injection needle, and at the same time, the blue light is finally focused on the top of the injection needle through the optical fiber and lens; Under the control of the main control board, the 6-axis robotic arm cooperates with the module to deliver the repair raw materials to the damaged cartilage and complete photopolymerization curing under blue light irradiation. According to the printing program, it prints layer by layer to achieve cartilage damage repair; After the cartilage repair printing is completed, the injection needle leaves the printing position, and the main control board controls the stepper motor to reverse, so that the push plate pulls the pushing end of the syringe in the opposite direction, and the supply of repair raw materials stops.

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