Bone Plate Slotted Positioning Opening for Humerus Fixation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current bone plates face challenges in accurately positioning themselves relative to bone fragments, particularly in fragmented long bones like the humerus, leading to potential misalignment and increased bone damage during the healing process.
Innovation Solution
A bone plate design featuring a slotted positioning opening for an elongated positioning member, such as a K-Wire, which allows for initial fixation and verification of the plate's position, with additional fastening openings for secure attachment, enabling precise adjustment and minimization of bone damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If an oblong screw hole is provided for plate adjustment, then the bone plate can be adjusted vertically, but the screw hole must be relatively large which causes significant bone damage when the screw is removed and re-placed
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the positioning function into two separate components: a slotted opening for initial positioning and adjustment, and a separate screw hole for final fixation. The slotted opening has dimensions specifically optimized for positioning purposes only, while the screw hole is optimized for mechanical fixation. This segmentation allows each component to be minimized for its specific function, reducing overall bone damage compared to using a single large oblong hole for both purposes.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the positioning function from the fixation function. The slotted opening is designed solely for positioning and adjustment, with dimensions that are minimal for this purpose. The screw hole is separately provided for fixation only. This extraction allows the positioning opening to be much smaller than a traditional oblong screw hole, reducing bone damage while maintaining adjustability.
2Measurement precision
If a K-Wire opening is provided for position verification, then the bone plate position can be verified by X-ray imaging, but additional bone damage is caused by the extra opening
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the positioning and verification functions into the slotted opening structure. The same slotted opening that allows for plate adjustment also serves as the access point for inserting the K-Wire for position verification. This merging eliminates the need for a separate K-Wire opening, reducing bone damage while maintaining verification capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The slotted opening is designed to serve multiple functions: it allows for vertical plate adjustment during positioning, provides access for K-Wire insertion for X-ray verification, and can guide the positioning of the screw hole. This multi-functionality reduces the total number of openings needed in the bone plate, minimizing bone damage while maintaining all necessary capabilities.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the slotted positioning opening has small dimensions, then bone damage is minimized, but the opening must be precisely dimensioned to accommodate only the positioning member
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by designing the slotted opening with specific dimensional characteristics optimized for its positioning function. The slot width is precisely controlled to accommodate only the positioning member (K-Wire) and not the larger screw, while the length provides sufficient adjustment range. This localized precision is achieved through specific geometric design rather than overall plate precision requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The slotted opening has an asymmetric geometry with a narrow width dimension and a longer length dimension. This asymmetric design allows the opening to be small in the critical width dimension (minimizing bone damage) while providing sufficient dimension in the length direction for adjustment purposes. The asymmetric shape naturally guides the positioning member while preventing larger fasteners from being inserted.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a bone plate which has a slotted positioning opening in a head portion of the bone plate. Laterally and along the slotted positioning opening one or more fastening openings are provided. The present disclosure further provides a proximal humeral bone plate and a method for adjusting a position of a humeral bone plate.