Adaptable Surgical Guide with Elastic Contact Elements
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical guides face challenges such as anatomical changes between imaging and surgery, unclear image regions leading to improper fits, and the inability to account for tangible intraoperative adjustments like ligament tension, resulting in potential surgical inaccuracies and reliance on mental navigation.
Innovation Solution
A medical guide with elastic contact elements that adapt intra-operatively, providing visual or force feedback to ensure precise positioning and fit, allowing for real-time adjustments and improved surface contact, even in areas with anatomical changes or unclear imaging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a static image-based guide is used, then the guide can be manufactured with precise pre-operative planning, but the guide cannot adapt to anatomical changes between imaging and surgery
Solution Approach 1:
The guide incorporates elastic contact elements that can dynamically adapt to anatomical changes between imaging and surgery. These elastic elements allow the guide to flex and conform to variations in patient anatomy while maintaining the pre-operative planning precision, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing precision and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide utilizes changes in the physical state of elastic materials to adapt to different anatomical conditions. The elastic contact elements change their deformation state based on the actual anatomical contact, allowing the guide to maintain precision despite anatomical variations between imaging and surgical time.
2Stability of the object's composition
If large gaps are made to compensate for surface hinges, then more surface contact is maintained, but the likelihood of improper fit increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide employs elastic contact elements that function as flexible components to maintain continuous surface contact even when anatomical variations create potential hinge gaps. These elastic elements flex to accommodate minor misalignments while maintaining reliable contact, eliminating the need for large compensatory gaps that would reduce fit accuracy.
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If windows are added to the guide for fit visibility, then the surgeon can check for gaps, but the locking surface area is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The guide incorporates visual feedback elements such as colored indicators or markings on the elastic contact elements that provide information about fit quality without requiring physical windows. This allows the surgeon to detect gaps and assess fit accuracy while maintaining the full locking surface area, as the feedback is provided through indicators rather than by reducing structural material.
4Adaptability or versatility
If manual adjustment of guide elements is performed, then the guide can be adapted to intraoperative conditions, but the position determination relies on visual references and is made manually
Solution Approach 1:
The elastic contact elements automatically adapt to intraoperative anatomical conditions without requiring manual adjustment. The elements self-adjust their position and deformation based on the actual anatomical contact, eliminating the need for manual repositioning and making the guide easier to operate while maintaining adaptability to intraoperative conditions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The guide ensures accurate surgical interventions by adapting to anatomical changes and providing feedback, reducing the risk of improper fits and enhancing the precision of surgical acts like drilling or cutting, while minimizing radiation exposure during surgery.
Implementation Method 1
first and second contact elements being movable relative to the reference element by deformation of the first and second elastic elements respectively
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B~1C
Figure 1D
AI summary
The present invention relates to an adaptable therapeutic, diagnostic or surgical guide for an intra-operative adjustment of a guidance element to a pre-planned position. An advantage and innovation of the present invention is that it provides a template or guide that adapts in a controlled way to a changed intra-operative anatomical situation compared to the default planned situation. This adaption maybe purely positional but it may also include force feedback. Feedback, either visual feedback or force feedback that results in an adjustment of a guidance element is also an aspect of the present invention. For example, the feedback can contain information either about the fit of the guide or template onto a bone (in case the guide or template fits onto one bone) or about the relative position of two bones of bone fragments (e.g. ligament tension between the femur and tibia).