Bone Marrow Harvesting via Reamer-Irrigator-Aspirator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for harvesting and processing bone and cellular material for medical treatments are inefficient, requiring multiple surgical procedures to extract stem cells, which can be time-consuming and invasive.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the extraction of cancellous bone, cortical bone chips, and bone marrow during routine orthopedic procedures using a reamer-irrigator-aspirator, followed by processing, separation, and storage at a facility for use as allografts, autografts, or stem cells.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If bone marrow is extracted using traditional multi-staged procedures, then stem cells can be obtained for medical treatment, but the patient must undergo multiple surgical operations which increases treatment time and invasiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the bone marrow extraction process with routine orthopedic procedures (such as fracture fixation or joint replacement), merging two separate surgical events into one. This eliminates the need for dedicated stem cell harvesting surgery, reducing total treatment time while ensuring stem cell availability for the primary orthopedic treatment
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs bone marrow extraction during the routine orthopedic procedure before the patient leaves the operating room. By taking preliminary action to collect and process the bone marrow material during the initial surgery, the system prepares stem cells in advance for potential use, avoiding the need for subsequent dedicated harvesting procedures
2Productivity
If bone marrow is extracted during routine orthopedic procedures, then multiple surgeries are reduced, but the complexity of processing and storing the extracted material increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a centralized processing and storage facility that acts as an intermediary between the surgical site and the patient's future treatment needs. This facility receives bone marrow material from multiple surgical procedures, processes it through standardized protocols, and stores it for later use, thereby managing the complexity centrally rather than at each surgical site
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables bone marrow material to be automatically collected during routine procedures through integrated extraction devices, and the processing facility handles all subsequent processing and storage operations autonomously based on standardized protocols, reducing the need for complex manual intervention at each step
3Quantity of substance
If dedicated surgery is performed to extract bone marrow, then sufficient material can be obtained, but the surgical burden on the patient increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the bone marrow extraction with necessary orthopedic procedures (such as reaming during intramedullary nailing or preparation during joint replacement). By combining these procedures, the system obtains sufficient bone marrow material as a byproduct of the primary treatment, eliminating the need for separate dedicated harvesting surgery and thereby reducing surgical burden while maintaining material quantity
Data Source
AI summary
Methods of extracting bone and/or cellular material from a patient for possible use in a later surgical procedure, which involves that patient or even a different patient, are provided. An embodiment of the method generally comprises extracting bone and/or cellular material from a patient undergoing a routine surgical procedure, saving the material, and then sending it to a storage, separation, and processing facility (e.g., a “biobank”) for use in a later surgical procedure involving that patient, or a different patient. The material may be cancellous bone, cortical bone chips, or bone marrow. The extracted bone and/or cellular material can be processed at the biobank and used in a multitude of different medical procedures (e.g., as an allograft infused with stem cells for use in a fusion procedure).