Bone Nail Trailing End Curvature for Tissue Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Bone implants, such as nails, often protrude above the bone surface due to anatomical variations, causing pain and irritation from sharp edges at the trailing end, which can lead to discomfort and injury to surrounding soft tissue.
Innovation Solution
A bone implant design featuring a trailing section with a smooth end surface, including depressed and elevated portions, such as a sinusoidal waveform, to reduce tissue irritation and facilitate accurate alignment with medical devices, while allowing for rotational and translational force transmission without sharp edges.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the trailing end of the bone implant is designed with grooves for fitting pegs on a target device, then accurate alignment and sufficient fixation are achieved, but sharp edges are created that cause irritation and injury to surrounding soft tissue
Solution Approach 1:
The trailing end of the bone implant is designed with a curved, rounded surface instead of sharp edges and grooves. This curvature eliminates the harmful sharp edges while maintaining the ability to interface with soft tissue, directly resolving the contradiction between alignment accuracy and tissue irritation.
Solution Approach 2:
The implant features different surface characteristics at different locations: the leading end maintains precise geometric features for alignment, while the trailing end has a smooth, curved surface for tissue compatibility. This local differentiation allows each end to optimize its function without compromising the other.
2Reliability
If the trailing end protrudes above the bone surface to serve as an interface for target devices, then accurate alignment and fixation are achieved, but pain and irritation occur in the surrounding tissue
Solution Approach 1:
The trailing end is designed with a curved, rounded profile that protrudes minimally above the bone surface. This curvature distributes contact pressure over a larger area of soft tissue, reducing pain and irritation while maintaining sufficient protrusion for device interface functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The dimensions and geometry of the trailing end are optimized to achieve the minimum necessary protrusion for reliable device interface while minimizing soft tissue disruption. The curved surface profile is specifically designed to reduce stress concentration on surrounding tissues.
3Force
If the end surface is designed with depressed and elevated portions for force transmission, then rotational and translational forces are effectively transmitted, but the complexity of the surface geometry increases
Solution Approach 1:
The end surface incorporates a curved, wave-like profile with depressed and elevated portions that naturally transmit rotational and translational forces through geometric interlocking. This curved geometry achieves effective force transmission while maintaining a relatively simple, manufacturable form compared to more complex mechanical engagement features.
Data Source
AI summary
A bone nail has a shaft with a leading section and a trailing section, wherein the trailing section includes an end surface having at least one depressed portion and at least one elevated portion. The transition between one of the depressed portions and the adjacent elevated portion is smooth. The end surface is formed so as to transmit rotational forces as well as translational forces from a medical device to the shaft of the bone nail, when the medical device is coupled at the end surface to the trailing section of the bone nail.