Bendable Drill Bit Alignment Peg for Orthopedic Bone Preparation
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Solution Overview
Problem
During orthopedic surgeries, maintaining alignment of the drill guide while drilling holes for orthopedic staples is challenging, leading to potential misalignment and complications in staple insertion, which increases surgical steps and operating room time.
Innovation Solution
The use of a drill bit with a bendable drive attachment that can remain in the bone to act as an alignment peg, eliminating the need for additional alignment pegs and reducing the number of surgical steps by maintaining guide alignment during and after drilling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a drill guide is used to prepare holes in bone, then hole preparation accuracy is improved, but the risk of misalignment between holes increases due to guide shifting
Solution Approach 1:
The drill bit is merged with an alignment peg function by leaving the drill bit in the first hole after drilling. The drill bit itself serves dual purposes: as the drilling tool and as the alignment reference for subsequent operations, eliminating the need for a separate alignment peg and preventing guide shifting.
Solution Approach 2:
The drill bit is positioned in the first hole before drilling the second hole, establishing the alignment reference in advance. This preliminary positioning ensures that when the second hole is drilled, the guide remains aligned with the first hole, preventing misalignment.
2Manufacturing precision
If additional alignment pegs are used to maintain guide alignment, then hole alignment accuracy is improved, but the number of surgical steps and operating time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The drill bit is merged with the alignment peg function, combining two separate components into one. The drill bit serves both as the drilling instrument and as the alignment reference, eliminating the need for additional alignment pegs and reducing surgical steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The drill bit is given multiple functions: it drills the hole and then serves as the alignment peg for subsequent drilling operations. This multi-functionality reduces the number of components needed and simplifies the surgical procedure.
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple separate components (drill bit and alignment peg) are used, then alignment accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The drill bit and alignment peg are merged into a single component. The drill bit itself becomes the alignment reference by remaining in the drilled hole, eliminating the need for a separate alignment peg and reducing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The drill bit is designed to perform multiple functions: drilling the hole and serving as the alignment reference. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed in the surgical system.
Data Source
AI summary
Described herein are examples of orthopedic drill bits and methods of preparing a bone of a living being for fixation. An example method includes coupling a drive attachment of a drill bit to a mounting attachment of a driver, and placing a guide at a desired location on the bone. The guide has an opening corresponding to an area of bone to be removed. The guide provides proper positioning and alignment for drilling a hole. With the guide in place, the method further includes aligning the drill bit with the opening on the guide and drilling a hole in the bone. Once the hole is drilled, the method includes de-coupling the drill bit from the driver, and bending the drill bit at the drive attachment while the drill bit is still in the bone. In some examples, additional method steps follow preparation of the hole.