Bone Plate K-Wire Slot and Forceps Compression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bone fixation systems face difficulties in accurately positioning K-wires to prevent movement of the bone plate during imaging, as any space between the K-wire and the screw hole can allow plate movement, making the process tedious and challenging.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a forceps with pivotally connected arms and engagement members that apply a biasing force to temporary fixation members, such as K-wires, to align and secure the bone plate relative to bone segments, allowing for precise adjustment of bone segment positions and stabilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a K-wire is positioned in a screw hole to prevent bone plate movement, then plate stability is improved, but positioning accuracy becomes difficult and tedious due to the need for precise fit between K-wire and screw hole
Solution Approach 1:
The screw hole geometry is changed from a standard circular hole to an elongated slot configuration. This parameter change allows the K-wire to be positioned more easily while maintaining plate stability, as the slot provides guidance and constraint in the critical direction without requiring precise radial positioning
Solution Approach 2:
The K-wire serves as an intermediary element between the bone plate and the bone segments. By positioning the K-wire in the elongated slot rather than a fixed hole, the system achieves both ease of wire insertion and stable plate fixation through the combined constraint of the slot geometry and K-wire presence
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional K-wire positioning is used without compression, then the procedure is simpler, but bone segment alignment precision deteriorates due to plate movement during imaging
Solution Approach 1:
Compression force is applied to the K-wires before final plate fixation and imaging. This preliminary action ensures that the bone segments and plate are held in the correct aligned position during the critical imaging phase, eliminating the need for complex positioning procedures while maintaining high alignment precision
Solution Approach 2:
The compression mechanism allows the surgeon to self-adjust and self-verify the bone segment alignment by applying force and observing the result in real-time during imaging, combining procedural simplicity with alignment precision through direct feedback
3Force
If forceps are used to apply compression force to K-wires, then bone gap reduction is improved, but device complexity increases due to the addition of forceps mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
The forceps mechanism is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a compression device for reducing bone gaps and as a positioning tool for aligning bone segments. This universal application justifies the added device complexity by eliminating the need for separate compression and positioning instruments
Solution Approach 2:
The forceps mechanism combines multiple functions into a single device: applying compression force to the K-wires, maintaining bone segment alignment, and facilitating proper positioning during imaging. By merging these functions, the overall system complexity is managed more efficiently than using multiple separate devices
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables precise alignment and stabilization of bone segments, facilitating effective bone fixation and healing by ensuring accurate positioning of the bone plate and temporary fixation members, thereby reducing the bone gap and promoting union of bone segments.
Implementation Method 1
actuating a forceps to bias at least one of the K-wires to translate relative to the other K-wire
Implementation Method 2
a forceps with pivotally connected arms and engagement members that apply a biasing force
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 2A~2B
AI summary
A bone fixation system includes a bone plate, bone anchors, temporary fixation members, and forceps. The temporary fixation members are configured to be inserted through apertures in the bone plate and into underlying bone segments that are separated by a bone gap. The forceps are configured to apply a force to the temporary fixation members that causes at least one of the underlying bone segments to translate with respect to the other bone segment, thereby reducing or distracting the bone segments without interfering with final fixation by screws of bone segments..