Acetabular Cup Drill Guide for Precise Screw Hole Placement

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current surgical tools lack precision in drilling screw holes in the acetabulum for optimal placement of the acetabular cup during hip prosthesis implantation, leading to potential misalignment and instability of the prosthesis.

Innovation Solution

A surgical tool system comprising a drill guide with spring-loaded pins and a handle with a drill bit guide, which ensures accurate alignment and drilling of holes at precise angles and depths within the acetabulum, using a drill bit to create screw holes for securing the acetabular cup.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If conventional surgical tools are used for drilling screw holes in the acetabulum, then the surgical procedure can be completed, but the precision and accuracy of hole placement is insufficient leading to potential misalignment of the acetabular cup

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvehole placement precisionVSAvoidalignment accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The drill guide acts as an intermediary device between the surgeon and the bone, providing a reference framework that ensures accurate hole placement. The guide incorporates alignment features and stop mechanisms that mediate the drilling process to achieve precise angular and depth control, directly resolving the contradiction between measurement precision and manufacturing precision

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The drill guide is positioned and secured to the acetabular cup before drilling begins, establishing the correct orientation and alignment in advance. This preliminary positioning with built-in alignment features ensures that subsequent hole drilling achieves the required precision without deviation, addressing both measurement and manufacturing precision requirements

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Manufacturing precision

If a drill guide system is implemented to improve drilling precision, then hole placement accuracy improves, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvehole drilling accuracyVSAvoidsurgical tool complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The drill guide is designed as a multi-functional device that combines positioning, alignment, and depth control features in a single instrument. It can accommodate different drill bit sizes and provides multiple alignment references, reducing the need for multiple separate tools while maintaining high drilling accuracy, thus mitigating the increase in device complexity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The drill guide incorporates nested components where smaller alignment features and stop mechanisms are integrated within the main guide structure. This nested design allows complex functionality to be achieved without proportionally increasing the overall device size or apparent complexity, as components are efficiently arranged within each other

Inventive Principle:
Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

Data Source

PatentEP3328319B1Drill guide for acetabular cup fasteners
Publication Date: 2020.10.14 HIP INNOVATION TECHNOLOGY LLC
  • EP3328319B1 patent drawingFigure 1~5
  • EP3328319B1 patent drawingFigure 6
  • EP3328319B1 patent drawingFigure 7~9

AI summary

When an acetabular cup used in hip replacement surgery is to be affixed to the acetabulum using screws, the drill guide instruments of the invention are used to position a drill bit so that the screw holes drilled in the acetabulum are properly placed for optimum implantation of the acetabular cup. The drill guide is locked into the acetabular cup by spring loaded pins which position the guide over holes in the cup which accommodate the screws. The guide is used to position the drill bits and allow drilling. After drilling the guide is removed.