Arthroscopic Guide Member With Temporary Fixation for Tendon Repair
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for delivering and fixing medical devices in articulating joints, such as the shoulder, face challenges due to the lack of a fixed axis and slippery tissue, making accurate placement difficult, especially during arthroscopic procedures where the surgeon's field of view is limited and landmarks are obscured.
Innovation Solution
A tendon repair implant and delivery system that includes a guide member with a temporary fixation mechanism, allowing for arthroscopic insertion and temporary fixation at the site, along with a tendon repair implant that can be pleat-folded and expanded, and a delivery tool with a support ring tube and pull wire for anchoring the implant to the tendon.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If arthroscopic insertion is used to minimize invasiveness, then patient trauma is reduced, but surgical visibility and landmark identification deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The guide member acts as an intermediary tool that is inserted arthroscopically to provide a physical reference framework. It includes external alignment features that can be visualized through the arthroscope, serving as artificial landmarks when natural anatomical landmarks are obscured. This mediator enables accurate device placement while maintaining the minimally invasive arthroscopic approach.
2Manufacturing precision
If temporary fixation mechanism is added to guide member, then device placement accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide member is segmented into functional components: a shaft for insertion, external alignment features for positioning, and a temporary fixation mechanism for stabilization. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently while keeping the overall design manageable and the fixation mechanism relatively simple.
3Ease of operation
If tendon repair implant is pleat-folded for delivery, then delivery accessibility is improved, but implant structural integrity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The tendon repair implant utilizes a flexible, thin-film construction that can be pleat-folded for compact delivery through small arthroscopic incisions. The material is engineered to maintain sufficient structural integrity in the folded state while being strong enough to provide effective tendon repair when deployed. The flexibility allows it to navigate through the delivery system, and the controlled deployment restores full structural strength at the implant site.
Data Source
AI summary
A tendon repair implant delivery system and methods incorporating a guide member having a temporary fixation member on or adjacent to the distal end. The point of fixation defines a target site for placement of the tendon repair implant which is subsequently affixed to the tendon.