Customizable Bone-Cutting Guide with Integrated Suction

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current surgical bone-cutting methods are inefficient due to the need for additional fixtures and standard guides, leading to difficulties in providing precise and rapid procedures that account for anatomical differences, and they often result in visual interference from bleeding, increasing clinician fatigue.

Innovation Solution

A customizable surgical bone-cutting jigsaw puzzle-type guide device and guide-traction-suction device with patient-specific fabrication using 3D printing, featuring a main guide portion and connection portions that securely attach to the bone without additional tools, and a body portion with internal holes for suctioning, allowing precise cutting along designed incision lines while preventing visual interference.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If standard guides with additional fixtures are used for bone cutting, then the guide can be securely fixed to the bone, but the procedure becomes complex and time-consuming

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveguide fixation stabilityVSAvoidnumber of additional fixtures

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The guide device utilizes the bone's own anatomical structure (surface and holes) to achieve fixation without requiring additional external fixtures. The guide directly engages with pre-existing bone features, making the bone itself serve as the fixation mechanism.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The guide device is designed to work with various bone types and anatomical structures by utilizing common bone features (surface contact and holes) that exist across different bones, making it universally applicable without needing bone-specific additional fixtures.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Reliability

If standard guides are used for bone cutting, then the guide can be attached to surrounding bone, but anatomically weak portions may be damaged

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveguide attachment securityVSAvoiddamage to anatomically weak bone portions

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The guide device distributes fixation forces to specific localized areas of the bone (surface contact zones and hole locations) rather than applying force across the entire bone structure. This concentrates stress in robust areas while protecting anatomically weak portions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The fixation system is divided into multiple discrete contact points (surface contact areas and separate hole engagements) rather than requiring continuous attachment across the bone, reducing stress concentration on any single weak area.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

3Reliability

If standard guides are used for bone cutting, then the guide can be fixed using screws, but rapid and precise cutting is difficult to achieve

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveguide fixation stabilityVSAvoidcutting speed and precision

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The guide device is pre-configured with the cutting path and guide surface geometry before the procedure. The bone holes and contact surfaces are positioned in advance to match the required cutting trajectory, eliminating the need for complex intraoperative adjustments and enabling rapid precise cutting.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

4Adaptability or versatility

If standard guides are used without patient-specific fabrication, then standard guides can be universally applied, but patient-specific anatomical differences cannot be accommodated

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveguidance precision for patient-specific anatomyVSAvoidcustomization complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The guide device parameters (hole positions, contact surface locations, guide surface geometry) are customized for each patient based on their specific anatomy. By varying these geometric parameters according to patient-specific imaging data, the same basic guide design adapts to different anatomical configurations without requiring fundamentally different manufacturing approaches.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS11819223B2Customizable surgical bone-cutting jigsaw puzzle-type guide device and customizable surgical bone-cutting guide-traction-suction device

Publication Date: 2023.11.21 THE CATHOLIC UNIV OF KOREA IND ACADEMIC COOP FOUND

AI summary

Provided is a customizable surgical bone-cutting jigsaw puzzle-type guide device. The customizable surgical bone-cutting jigsaw puzzle-type guide device includes: a main guide portion that includes a main contact surface lengthily formed along a required main incision line of a bone to be cut and shaped to be brought into contact with the bone, and a main guide surface forming a guide line together with the main contact surface along the same line as the main incision line and shaped to be brought into contact with a cutting blade for guiding the movement of the cutting blade during cutting of the bone; and a connection portion extending from the main guide portion and connected to a side of the bone such that the main guide portion may be supported on the bone, the connection portion being configured to be detachably attached to the side of the bone.