Acetabular Cup Screw Guide for Bone-Visible Fixation Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current acetabular cup prostheses face challenges in accurate positioning due to obscured underlying bone structure, leading to potential wear, discomfort, and limited bone ingrowth, exacerbated by excessive screw holes that compromise the porous structure.
Innovation Solution
A surgical guide system comprising a shell trial with windows for bone visualization, a transparent liner trial with hole guides, and an acetabular cup implant with aligned holes, allowing for precise screw placement into healthy bone regions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple screw holes are provided in the acetabular cup to ensure alignment with healthy bone, then the reliability of fixation is improved, but the porous structure available for bone ingrowth is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by providing a surgical guide system with shell trial and liner trial that includes pre-defined hole guides and windows. These guides allow the surgeon to identify and mark healthy bone regions before the actual implantation, enabling precise alignment of screw holes with healthy bone without compromising the porous structure. The hole guides are positioned to align with windows in the shell trial, allowing visual confirmation of healthy bone through the windows before drilling.
2Ease of operation
If the acetabular cup is positioned without clear visualization of underlying bone, then the surgical procedure is simplified, but the positioning accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the shell trial and liner trial as intermediary devices that provide clear visualization of underlying bone through strategically placed windows. These trials are inserted into the acetabulum before final implantation, allowing the surgeon to visually identify healthy bone regions through the windows. The hole guides in the liner trial align with these windows, serving as a mediator between the surgeon's need for visualization and the requirement for precise screw placement.
3Loss of time
If screw holes are drilled without precise alignment with healthy bone, then the surgical time is reduced, but the fixation strength deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical guide system performs preliminary identification and marking of healthy bone regions through the windows in the shell trial and aligned hole guides in the liner trial. This preliminary action allows the surgeon to quickly locate optimal screw placement sites without time-consuming exploration during the actual implantation. The pre-defined hole guides eliminate the need for extensive trial and error in positioning screw holes, reducing surgical time while ensuring alignment with healthy bone for optimal fixation strength.
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical guide system includes a shell trial having a convex side configured to engage an acetabulum, a concave side forming a cavity therein, and windows extending through the convex and concave sides for viewing bone. The system further includes a liner trial having a convex side configured to be received within the cavity of the concave side of the shell trial, and a concave side with recessed hole guides there, wherein more than one of the hole guides align with the windows of the shell trial when the liner trial is received therein. The system further includes an acetabular cup implant having a convex side configured to engage an acetabulum, a concave side, and a thickness extending between the concave and convex sides, the concave side defining a cavity configured to receive the liner trial.