Patient-Specific Acetabular Guide for Cup Orientation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for orienting the acetabular component in total hip replacement surgeries face inaccuracies due to variability in patient positioning, degenerative lumbosacral disease, and osteophytes, making it challenging to achieve proper alignment and reduce complications such as dislocation and wear.
Innovation Solution
A patient-specific acetabular guide is created using pre-operative three-dimensional imaging data to determine the optimal orientation of the acetabular component, which is then used to construct a custom guide that interlocks with the acetabulum, ensuring accurate placement of the acetabular component.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional alignment tools referencing the surgical table are used, then the procedure is simple and inexpensive, but accuracy is compromised due to patient positioning variability, pelvic tilt, and osteophytes
Solution Approach 1:
Patient-specific guides are manufactured preoperatively based on CT imaging data, allowing accurate cup orientation planning to be completed before surgery. This eliminates the need for complex intraoperative navigation systems while maintaining high accuracy, as the orientation decisions are made in advance when patient positioning issues do not yet exist
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates physical copies (patient-specific guides) of the patient's unique acetabular anatomy derived from CT scans. These guides replicate the precise geometric relationships needed for accurate cup placement, allowing the surgeon to transfer preplanned orientation directly to the patient without needing complex navigation equipment during surgery
2Measurement precision
If computer assisted navigation or haptic robots are used, then cup orientation accuracy is improved, but cost and learning curve increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses disposable patient-specific guides that are manufactured once based on preoperative imaging and then used during surgery. These single-use guides eliminate the need for expensive, reusable navigation systems and haptic robots, significantly reducing procedural cost while maintaining accuracy. The guides are discarded after one use, avoiding the high capital equipment costs of navigation systems
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the essential function of navigation (achieving accurate cup orientation) from complex navigation systems and haptic robots, and implements it through simple patient-specific guides. This separates the critical orientation function from the expensive supporting infrastructure, allowing accurate placement without the need for costly navigation equipment, cameras, or robotic systems
3Adaptability or versatility
If patient-specific guides using the rim of the acetabulum are used, then customization is improved, but the rim is difficult to access due to soft tissue coverage
Solution Approach 1:
The patient-specific guides are designed with localized contact surfaces that match specific accessible portions of the acetabular anatomy (such as the acetabular floor or rim edges that are not covered by soft tissue). This allows the guides to be customized for each patient's unique anatomy while concentrating the interface in areas that are easily accessible during surgery, avoiding the need to access deeply covered regions
Data Source
AI summary
A patient-specific acetabular guide for use in orienting an acetabular component with respect to an acetabulum of a patient as part of a surgical procedure includes a body having a bottom contact surface that has a portion that is shaped and configured to initimately receive and interlockingly mate with an acetabular notch of the patient's acetabulum in accordance with a three-dimensional image of the acetabulum of the specific patient. The three-dimensional image can be in the form of a three-dimensional virtual model of the patient's acetabulum that is constructed at least in part on 3D image data of the pelvic region of the patient.