Cannulated Bone Screw Cement Delivery With Retaining Sleeve Alignment

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing bone screw augmentation methods face challenges in delivering bone cement due to difficulties in aligning and securing cannulas and guides with the bone screw, leading to cement leakage and procedural inefficiencies.

Innovation Solution

Instruments featuring a cannulated bone screw with a retaining sleeve and coupling assembly that ensures proper alignment and secure attachment of a cannulated shaft, allowing direct cement delivery into the bone screw without the need for additional alignment guides.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If a cannula and guide are docked to the head assembly for cement delivery, then access to the bone screw shank is enabled, but alignment difficulty and device complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvealignment of cannula with bone screwVSAvoidnumber of components required

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines the alignment guide and cannula into a single integrated instrument that attaches directly to the bone screw head. This eliminates the need for separate docking of multiple components (cannula, guide, and head assembly), thereby simplifying the device structure while maintaining alignment accuracy and ease of operation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

2Difficulty of detecting and measuring

If direct visualization of the bone screw is compromised, then surgical difficulty increases, but the need for alignment guides becomes more critical

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvevisualization of bone screwVSAvoidcoupling and alignment procedure

Core Design Contradiction:

Difficulty of detecting and measuringVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The instrument is designed to attach directly to the bone screw head, using the screw itself as the reference point for alignment. This self-aligning mechanism eliminates the need for complex external guidance systems, allowing the procedure to proceed accurately even when direct visualization of the bone screw is compromised during surgery.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

3Reliability

If insufficient coupling or misalignment occurs, then cement leakage or shaft failure results, but improving coupling complexity increases device complexity

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecement delivery stabilityVSAvoidcoupling mechanism

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent integrates the coupling mechanism within the unified instrument structure that attaches to the bone screw head. This merged design ensures proper alignment and secure coupling are achieved simultaneously through the single attachment process, reducing the risk of cement leakage or shaft failure without requiring complex separate coupling systems.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentUS12605195B2Instruments and methods for delivering bone cement to a bone screw

Publication Date: 2026.04.21 MEDOS INT SARL

AI summary

Instruments and methods for delivering bone cement are disclosed herein. In one exemplary embodiment, the instrument includes a cannulated bone screw having a head that is configured to be received within a rod receiver and a shank extending distally from the head and configured to extend distally from the rod receiver, a cannulated shaft having a distal end configured to extend into the shank of the cannulated bone screw and a proximal end configured to couple to a bone cement delivery system, and a retaining sleeve disposed around at least a portion of the cannulated shaft. The head of the bone screw has proximal and distal recesses therein, and a distal end of the retaining sleeve is configured to couple to the proximal recess.