Bone Plate Coating Encasement for Uniform Antibiotic Cement Application
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current treatments for periprosthetic fractures and infections around joint replacement prostheses lack effective management strategies, leading to increased complications, reoperations, and long-term antibiotic regimens, with limited guidance for simultaneous fracture and infection management.
Innovation Solution
A device for coating bone plates with a medical coating, including bone cement impregnated with antibiotics and/or growth factors, using an encasement that allows for consistent and efficient application, providing anti-bacterial properties and bone stability, suitable for fractures with or without surrounding prosthetics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If bone plates are coated with medical coating using conventional methods, then the coating application is simple, but the coating consistency and efficiency are poor
Solution Approach 1:
The encasement is divided into multiple functional segments: a body portion containing the bone plate, a movable cover for access, and protrusions that segment the interior space. This segmentation allows controlled coating application while maintaining structural integrity and enabling consistent coating thickness.
Solution Approach 2:
The encasement acts as an intermediary device between the coating material and the bone plate. It provides a controlled environment for coating application, ensuring uniform distribution of the medical coating while protecting the bone plate during the process.
2Reliability
If bone plates are coated with antibiotic-impregnated bone cement, then infection prevention is improved, but the application process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The bone plate is first placed inside the encasement before the coating material is applied. This preliminary positioning ensures that the bone plate is properly oriented and secured, making the subsequent antibiotic-impregnated bone cement application more straightforward and ensuring uniform coating distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The encasement provides a localized controlled environment where the antibiotic-impregnated bone cement can be precisely applied to the bone plate surface. The protrusions and cover structure ensure that the coating is applied only where needed, maintaining local quality and effectiveness while simplifying the overall application process.
3Manufacturing precision
If the encasement includes multiple protrusions and interior walls, then coating precision is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The interior space of the encasement is segmented by multiple protrusions and interior walls into distinct regions. This segmentation creates controlled zones that guide the coating material flow, ensuring uniform distribution across the bone plate surface while maintaining manufacturability through modular component design.
Data Source
AI summary
An encasement for coating a bone plate with a substrate includes a sidewall structure having an upper edge and a cover disposed on the upper edge of the sidewall structure. The encasement includes a base from which the sidewall structure rises such that the sidewall structure, the cover and the base combine to create an open interior space of the encasement. An aperture in the sidewall structure provides access to the open interior space of the encasement and a plurality of cover protrusions extend from the cover into the open interior space. The encasement further includes a plurality of base protrusions extending from the base directly opposing the plurality of cover protrusions. A combined height of an individual cover protrusion and an opposing base protrusion is less than or equal to a height of the sidewall structure.