Adjustable Graft Fixation Device with Self-Locking Knots
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical devices for securing soft tissue grafts to bone lack strength and adjustability, often requiring multiple knots that can loosen and increase trauma to surrounding tissue, and fail to provide precise control over graft placement during procedures involving multiple ligament grafts.
Innovation Solution
A surgical implant with an elongate body featuring through-holes and a suture length configuration that forms self-locking knots and adjustable suture loops, minimizing the need for knots and allowing for secure positioning and adjustment of grafts within bone tunnels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple knots are used to secure the suture loop to the cortical button, then the graft can be positioned at the desired location, but the knots can loosen or slip post-operatively, causing the graft to move away from the desired location
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the problematic knots from the system by replacing them with a button-through-hole configuration where the suture loop passes through a hole in the cortical button and is secured by friction and geometry rather than knots. This eliminates the loosening issue while maintaining position stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The cortical button with its through-hole acts as an intermediary element between the suture loop and the graft, providing a secure attachment mechanism that eliminates the need for knots. The button's hole geometry and friction properties serve as the mediating mechanism for reliable fixation.
2Reliability
If multiple knots are used to secure the suture loop, then the graft can be positioned at the desired location, but the additional surface area of the knots can increase the risk of trauma to surrounding tissue
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes knots entirely from the system, replacing them with a knotless button-through-hole configuration. This extraction eliminates the source of tissue trauma associated with knot surface area while maintaining secure graft positioning through friction-based fixation.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a single cortical button is used to secure multiple ligament grafts, then the procedure is simplified, but it becomes difficult to control placement of one ligament graft without also moving the other ligament graft
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the single cortical button into multiple separate buttons, each with its own through-hole and suture loop configuration. This segmentation allows independent positioning and control of each ligament graft while maintaining the overall simplicity of the button-through-hole fixation technique.
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems and methods for securing a soft tissue graft to bone are provided herein. In one embodiment, a surgical implant can include an elongate body (300) having a longitudinal axis (314) extending therealong and having first and second through-holes (310, 312) that are offset to a first side of the longitudinal axis and a third through-hole (316) that is offset to a second side of the longitudinal axis and that is positioned between the first and second through-holes. The implant can also include a suture length extending through the first, second, and third through-holes such that a self-locking knot is formed on a first side of the body and a plurality of suture loops are formed on a second side of the body opposite the first side.