Bone Clamp With Open Cable Channels for Minimally Invasive Fixation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bone clamps and cable passers cause excessive tissue damage, increase the risk of arterial strangulation, and require multiple instruments, complicating minimally invasive surgery and increasing theatre time.
Innovation Solution
A bone clamp with integrated open channels for passing cables or wires around bones, eliminating the need for separate tools and reducing tissue damage by allowing direct passage of fixation materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a separate cable passer is used to pass cables around bones, then cable placement is achieved, but tissue damage increases and arterial strangulation risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the bone clamp and cable passer into a single integrated instrument. The clamp jaws incorporate internal channels that guide the cable directly to the bone surface, eliminating the need for a separate cable passer. This integration allows cable placement to occur through the clamp structure itself, reducing tissue disruption and arterial injury risk while maintaining effective cable positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The internal channels within the clamp jaws serve as an intermediary pathway for cable transmission. Instead of passing the cable directly through tissue with a separate tool, the cable is guided through the protected channel structure of the clamp, which acts as a mediator between the cable and the bone, minimizing direct tissue contact and damage.
2Reliability
If multiple separate instruments (clamp and cable passer) are used, then cable passage is achieved, but device complexity increases and theatre time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the bone clamp and cable passer functions into a single multi-functional instrument. The clamp includes integrated internal channels within its jaw structure that enable cable passage, eliminating the need for a separate cable passer tool. This reduces the total number of instruments required while maintaining both clamping and cable passage capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated clamp serves multiple functions: it provides bone clamping/stabilization and simultaneously acts as a cable passer through its internal channels. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate specialized tools, reducing device complexity and the number of instrument exchanges required during surgery.
3Ease of operation
If excessive tissue spreading is performed to accommodate separate instruments, then instrument access is improved, but skin damage increases and surgery time increases
Solution Approach 1:
By combining the clamp and cable passer into one instrument, the patent eliminates the need for additional retractors or excessive tissue spreading that would be required to accommodate multiple separate tools. The integrated design allows both clamping and cable passage through a single access point, minimizing skin damage and reducing the need for prolonged retractor usage.
Data Source
AI summary
A bone clamp (1, 200, 300) for use in fixation of a fractured bone, or prevention of fracture of a bone, the clamp (1, comprising a pair of handles (2a, 2b) joined together at a pivot point (5), the handles (2a, 2b) each having an arcuate jaw (4a 4b), the arcuate jaws (4a, 4b) comprising a first end (7a, 7b) having an opening at a proximal end (12a, 12b) of the jaw (4a, 4b) in communication with a second end (8a, 8b) having an opening at a distal end (14a, 14b) of the jaw (4a, 4b), the first end (7a, 7b) and second end (8a, 8b) in communication via a channel (6a, 6b), in which the channel (6a, 6b) is configured to accommodate a cable, a wire, a suture, a band or other suitable flexible material, and wherein the channel (6a, 6b) is an open channel.