Articulating Tool for Minimally Invasive Rib Fixation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for internal fixation of rib fractures are invasive and often require large incisions, leading to chest wall instability and potential respiratory and cardiac complications, with existing solutions failing to provide adequate mechanical stability and minimizing nerve damage during thoracoscopic surgery.
Innovation Solution
An articulating tool with a pivotable head and a non-rigid drive shaft, capable of articulating up to 60°, is used to place fasteners into the rib through a small incision, allowing for minimally invasive internal fixation and secure osteosynthetic implant placement, while maintaining bio-inert and autoclavable materials for safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional open surgery is used for rib fixation, then mechanical stability and fixation strength are improved, but incision size and tissue trauma increase
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical procedure is divided into multiple small incisions (typically 3-5 incisions of 1-2 cm each) rather than one large incision. Each incision is used to insert specific instruments for fixation, allowing the surgeon to achieve stable rib fixation while minimizing the size and number of surgical wounds.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs flexible, thin-walled reamers and instruments that can be inserted through small incisions. These flexible instruments can navigate the thoracic cavity and reach the rib fracture site without requiring large incisions, thus reducing tissue trauma while maintaining the ability to perform effective fixation.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If minimally invasive thoracoscopic surgery is used, then tissue trauma is reduced, but mechanical stability and fixation reliability worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions into integrated instruments: the reamer serves both as a drilling tool and as a guide for fastener insertion; the fastener system integrates the screw, washer, and locking mechanism into a single insertable unit. This integration allows minimally invasive insertion while maintaining reliable fixation through the combined mechanical action of multiple components working together.
Solution Approach 2:
The fixation system uses composite construction with titanium or stainless steel components that provide high strength-to-weight ratio. The reamer and fasteners are made from bio-inert materials that provide both mechanical strength for reliable fixation and biocompatibility for minimal tissue reaction, ensuring both reliability and reduced tissue trauma.
3Ease of operation
If large incisions are made for rib fixation, then instrument access and manipulation ease are improved, but post-operative pain and nerve damage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs nested instrument design where smaller instruments (fasteners, washers, drivers) are inserted within larger instruments (reamers, cannulas). This nested configuration allows all necessary components to be delivered through a single small incision, eliminating the need for multiple large incisions and reducing nerve exposure and damage risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The reamer acts as an intermediary instrument that is inserted through a small incision, creates the necessary bone cavity, and simultaneously serves as a guide and protector for the subsequent insertion of fasteners. This intermediary tool allows complex operations to be performed through minimal incisions, reducing direct manipulation near nerves and minimizing nerve damage.
4Ease of operation
If multiple incisions are made for thoracoscopic surgery, then surgical access is improved, but chest wall stability and respiratory function worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential function of rib fixation from complex multi-incision procedures and consolidates it into a minimally invasive system where only the critical components (reamer and fasteners) are inserted through small incisions. Non-essential structures and large incisions are eliminated, preserving chest wall integrity while achieving the necessary surgical access for fixation.
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 articulating tool enables minimally invasive rib fixation, reducing the need for large incisions, providing mechanical stability, and allowing for precise placement of fasteners, thus reducing post-operative pain and nerve damage, while maintaining the integrity of the thoracic cavity.
Implementation Method 1
an articulating head pivotably connected to the distal housing end by an articulating joint
Implementation Method 2
at least the medial shaft portion is non-rigid
Implementation Method 3
The antagonistic spring may be made of a superelastic nickel titanium alloy
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are embodiments of an articulating tool having a head that articulates and is capable of maintaining an angle for drilling or placing a fastener into a bone. The articulating tool includes a housing, an articulating head, a rotatable drive shaft, and a driver tip connected to the distal shaft portion. The articulating tool may be constructed and arranged to move between a first position and a second position, wherein in the first position and the second position the articulating head and the rotatable drive shaft are at different angles with respect to the longitudinal axis of the housing.