Adaptive Surgical Guide with Rigid and Deformable Portions

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Surgical guiding apparatuses face challenges in achieving stable and secure attachment to anatomical surfaces due to limitations in pre-operative medical imaging, which often fail to accurately represent soft-tissue and variable anatomical shapes, leading to unstable fitting and inaccurate instrument guidance during surgeries.

Innovation Solution

The development of adaptive surface surgical guiding apparatuses with patient-specific designs, incorporating a combination of rigid and variable deformable portions, where the deformable portions are designed to conform to inaccurately modeled regions, ensuring secure and stable attachment to anatomical surfaces, even in the presence of soft-tissue and variable anatomical features.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If pre-operative medical imaging data is used to create surgical guiding apparatus representations, then the surgical plan can be implemented accurately, but the apparatus may not fit well on anatomical surfaces due to soft-tissue visibility limitations and modeling errors

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesurgical plan implementation accuracyVSAvoidapparatus fitting stability

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The surgical guiding apparatus is divided into multiple portions: a first rigid portion configured to attach to a first region of the anatomical surface, and a second rigid portion configured to attach to a second region. This segmentation allows each portion to be optimized for its specific attachment region, improving overall stability while maintaining positioning accuracy.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Different portions of the surgical guiding apparatus have different structural properties - some regions use rigid portions for stable attachment, while other regions use variable deformable portions to accommodate anatomical variations. This local differentiation allows the apparatus to adapt to specific anatomical surface characteristics at each attachment site, resolving the conflict between precision and stability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

2Stability of the object's composition

If the surgical guiding apparatus uses rigid structures for stable attachment, then positioning stability is improved, but the apparatus cannot adapt to variable anatomical shapes and soft-tissue variations

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveapparatus positioning stabilityVSAvoidanatomical surface adaptation

Core Design Contradiction:

Stability of the object's compositionVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The surgical guiding apparatus incorporates variable deformable portions that can change shape or flexibility to adapt to different anatomical surfaces. These dynamic portions allow the apparatus to conform to variable anatomical shapes while maintaining stable attachment through the rigid portions, resolving the contradiction between rigidity and adaptability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The apparatus utilizes portions with variable physical properties - rigid portions for stable attachment and deformable portions that can change their shape or compliance parameters to match the underlying anatomical surface. This parameter variation allows the apparatus to maintain stability while adapting to anatomical variability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Object-affected harmful factors

If the anatomical surface is covered by soft-tissues, then the natural anatomical protection is maintained, but the surgical guiding apparatus cannot securely attach to the underlying anatomical surface

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesoft-tissue protectionVSAvoidattachment strength

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSStrength

Solution Approach 1:

The surgical guiding apparatus uses deformable portions as intermediaries that can penetrate or deform through soft-tissue layers to reach and attach to the underlying anatomical surface. These intermediary portions maintain the protective soft-tissue coverage while providing secure attachment points through the rigid portions that reach the denser underlying structures.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentEP3104789B1Adaptive surface surgical guiding apparatuses including stability and verification elements

Publication Date: 2018.12.05 MATERIALISE NV

Figure 1a~1c
Figure 2a~2d
Figure 3a~3d

AI summary

The present application relates to adaptive surface surgical guiding apparatuses, tools, devices, or guides including stability and/or verification elements for use in surgical applications. In one embodiment, a surgical guiding apparatus comprises one or more rigid portions configured to attach to a first region of an underlying anatomical surface; a variable deformable portion coupled to the one or more rigid portions, the variable deformable portion configured to conform to a shape of a second region of the underlying anatomical surface; and a soft-tissue piercing element configured to pierce soft-tissue overlying a third region of the underlying anatomical surface and to attach to the underlying anatomical surface.