Articulated Tip Assembly for Controlled Bone Cavity Creation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for forming cavities in cancellous bone for procedures like vertebroplasty face challenges in controlling the direction and containment of bone cement due to the unpredictable nature of cancellous bone composition, and existing expandable devices lack tactile feedback and can be difficult to remove.
Innovation Solution
An articulated tip assembly with a coil enclosure and interconnecting curving elements that can be selectively curved and rotated to create a void within the body, allowing for precise cavity formation and easy removal, with a lever assembly and off-center cable system for controlled curvature and rotation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If an expandable body or balloon device is used to form a cavity in cancellous bone, then the cavity can be formed with better bounding and control over injected bone cement, but the device becomes difficult to remove in certain applications and lacks tactile feedback for the surgeon
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into a removable articulated tip assembly that creates the cavity and a remaining catheter structure. The tip assembly can be detached and removed after cavity formation, solving the removal difficulty problem while maintaining cavity control benefits
Solution Approach 2:
The tip assembly features an articulated, curvable design that can dynamically adjust its shape during insertion and cavity formation. This dynamic capability allows the tip to navigate and create cavities effectively while being removable afterward
2Manufacturing precision
If an expandable body or balloon device is used to form a cavity in cancellous bone, then the cavity can be formed with better bounding and control over injected bone cement, but the surgeon lacks tactile feedback about the internal composition of the cancellous bone
Solution Approach 1:
The articulated tip assembly is extracted as a separate, removable component from the catheter system. This allows the tip to be inserted and manipulated to create the cavity while providing the surgeon with tactile feedback during the procedure, and then be removed to allow bone cement injection through the catheter
3Strength
If bone cement is injected with enough pressure to compress and displace cancellous bone tissue, then the cement can fill the cavity and provide structural support, but the direction and containment of the injected cement becomes difficult to control due to the unpredictable internal composition of the cancellous bone
Solution Approach 1:
The articulated tip assembly performs preliminary action by creating a pre-defined cavity in the cancellous bone before bone cement injection. This pre-formed cavity provides boundaries that contain and direct the bone cement during injection, ensuring precise placement while maintaining the ability to provide structural support
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are devices for use through a cannula to create cavities within interior body regions. When deployed, the distal end of several such devices extend beyond the distal end of the catheter and can then be selectively curved into a shaped compression surface that, when articulated, creates a void within the interior body. This compression surface may then be withdrawn back into the cannula for removal and to make way for bone cement that, in certain instances, may be introduced through the same cannula.