Bone Anchor Cartridge System for Arthroscopic Tissue Repair
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical methods for tissue repair, such as rotator cuff tears, are time-consuming and invasive, necessitating a solution to reduce procedure time and enhance efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A bone anchor cartridge system comprising preloaded bone anchors and suture lines, integrated with a guide tool and drill guide cartridge, facilitates faster and more precise tissue-to-bone attachment through arthroscopic procedures by enabling efficient placement and suturing of bone anchors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional surgical methods are used for tissue repair, then the procedure is thorough and reliable, but the surgical time is excessive and the procedure is overly invasive
Solution Approach 1:
The suture lines are pre-loaded onto the bone anchors within the cartridge assembly before surgery. The sutures are threaded through the bone anchors and organized in a ready-to-deploy configuration, eliminating the need to thread sutures during surgery. This preliminary preparation directly reduces surgical time while maintaining procedural reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The cartridge assembly contains multiple bone anchors with suture lines nested within a single delivery device. The bone anchors are housed within the cartridge, and the sutures are contained within the anchors, creating a compact nested structure that simplifies the surgical process by delivering multiple components through a single insertion point.
2Productivity
If multiple bone anchors and suture lines are prepared separately, then each component can be optimized, but the overall procedure time increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple bone anchors with their respective suture lines are combined into a single cartridge assembly. The cartridge integrates multiple anchors, spacers, and suture lines into one unified device that is inserted and deployed as a single unit, dramatically improving procedural efficiency by eliminating the need to prepare and handle multiple separate components during surgery.
3Loss of time
If preloaded bone anchor cartridges are used, then surgical time is reduced, but the device structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The cartridge assembly is segmented into distinct functional modules: bone anchors with integrated suture lines, spacers for positioning, and a delivery housing. Each segment performs a specific function and can be independently designed and manufactured, then assembled into the complete cartridge system. This modular segmentation manages device complexity by breaking down the overall structure into manageable, functionally-specific components.
Data Source
AI summary
Fixation device cartridges. At least one example embodiment is a cartridge including: a first tube; a second tube parallel to first tube; a first spacer coupled to the first tube and the second tube such that slots of the first and second tubes face each other; a second spacer coupled to the first tube and the second tube, the first and second spacers defining a suture volume between the slots of the first and second tubes, and the slot of the first tube and the slot of the second tube open into the suture volume; a first bone anchor disposed within the first tube, a first suture line associated with the first bone anchor and extending through the slot; and a second bone anchor disposed within the second tube and coupled to the first suture line.