Bone Cement Delivery Apparatus with Uniform Passageway
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bone augmentation techniques, such as vertebroplasty, face challenges with the viscosity of bone cements at luer-lock junctions, leading to difficulties in controlled injection due to irregularities and potential overfilling risks, which can result in spinal cord rupture and loss of control during the procedure.
Innovation Solution
A bone cement delivery apparatus with a syringe, connecting tube, and needle featuring a passageway with substantially uniform dimensions, including a connector that ensures a secure and uniform passage from the syringe to the needle, reducing turbulence and pressure required for cement expression, and optionally incorporating a needle holder with a tensioning mechanism and vibrator for improved control and cement flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If luer-lock junctions are used for removable connections between syringe, connecting tube and needle, then the apparatus allows for easy assembly and disassembly, but the irregularities at the junctions impede controlled injection of bone cement and require substantial pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the luer-lock junctions from the system entirely, creating a seamless passageway that eliminates the irregularities and turbulence caused by removable connections, thereby enabling controlled injection without substantial pressure
Solution Approach 2:
The syringe, connecting tube, and needle are merged into a single integrated delivery system with a continuous passageway, eliminating the discontinuities and irregularities that would otherwise impede controlled cement flow
2Productivity
If substantial pressure is applied to express bone cement through the passageway, then the cement can be injected into the vertebral body, but the risk of overfilling increases which can rupture the spinal cord and paralyze the patient
Solution Approach 1:
The seamless passageway design provides immediate visual feedback through the connecting tube, allowing the operator to observe cement flow and stop injection precisely when the vertebral body is filled, eliminating the risk of overfilling while maintaining controlled injection speed
3Adaptability or versatility
If non-polymethylmethacrylate cements with greater viscosity are used, then alternative bone cement options become available, but the higher viscosity presents problems at luer-lock junctions
Solution Approach 1:
By removing the luer-lock junctions that create flow resistance, the system enables the use of higher viscosity non-polymethylmethacrylate cements that would otherwise be difficult to inject through conventional connections
Data Source
AI summary
A bone cement apparatus (20) is provided. In an embodiment, the apparatus includes a syringe (24) and a needle (120). The syringe and needle are interconnected by a connecting tube (32). Various fittings are employed to join the syringe, needle and connecting tube. The connecting tube and fittings present a pathway along which bone cement is carried. The connecting tube, fittings, and needle are all configured such that a substantially uniform pathway is provided from the end of the syringe to the end of the needle.