Bone Plate With Positioning Slots For Rib Fracture Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for bone repair and fixation often damage surrounding tissue due to the need to grasp and manipulate bone segments with instruments that violate tissue spaces and apply excessive force, particularly when dealing with rib fractures.
Innovation Solution
A bone plate system with elongated positioning slots and anchoring structures allows for anterior manipulation and alignment of bone segments without encircling them, using manipulating members with anchoring structures that can be driven into the bone segments to facilitate proper positioning and secure fixation screws.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If grasping instruments are used to manipulate bone segments, then bone segments can be repositioned and aligned, but surrounding tissue is damaged due to intrusion into tissue spaces and excessive force application
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a bone plate with positioning slots as an intermediary device between the surgeon and the bone segments. The manipulating members engage with the bone segments through these slots, providing a mediated connection that allows repositioning while distributing force through the plate structure rather than direct grasping, thereby reducing tissue damage
Solution Approach 2:
The bone plate is segmented into multiple positioning slots that can accommodate multiple manipulating members at different locations. This segmentation allows distributed manipulation of bone segments across multiple attachment points, reducing the force concentration and tissue damage that would occur with single-point grasping instruments
2Manufacturing precision
If grasping instruments are used to hold bone segments, then proper alignment can be achieved, but the bones themselves may be damaged due to the force required for manipulation
Solution Approach 1:
The bone plate serves as a mediator that provides a stable reference frame for alignment. Multiple positioning slots allow manipulation at distributed points, reducing the risk of concentrating excessive force on single bone locations and preventing bone damage while achieving proper alignment
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning slots are pre-configured in the bone plate at optimal locations and orientations to guide the manipulating members. This preliminary arrangement of the fixation structure enables alignment to be achieved through controlled movement within the slot constraints, reducing the need for excessive manipulation force that could damage the bone
3Reliability
If traditional fixation methods are used, then bone segments can be secured, but the process requires violation of tissue spaces and encirclement of bone segments which causes damage
Solution Approach 1:
The bone plate acts as an intermediary fixation structure that connects bone segments without requiring encirclement or deep intrusion into tissue spaces. The positioning slots provide a controlled interface that maintains reliable fixation while minimizing the invasive nature of the procedure compared to traditional grasping and encircling methods
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for reducing and affixing two separated bone segments, the system having a bone plate with a pair of positioning slots, and a pair of elongated manipulating members with anchoring structures, the anchoring structures sized to pass through the positioning slots and for advancement into the bone segments. The bone plate is loosely mounted to the bone segments across the separation gap and a manipulating member is screwed into each bone segment through a positioning slot. The manipulating members are then used to reposition the bone segments by moving them together longitudinally within the slots. Fixation bone screws are inserted into the bone segments through screw receiving apertures to securely affix the bone plate to the repositioned bone segments. The manipulating members are then removed.