Bone Transplant Planning via CT Scanning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for assessing bone suitability for transplant implants are inefficient and inaccurate, often requiring destructive cuts and relying on radiographic techniques that suffer from projection and focus effects, leading to poor data interpretation and increased costs due to unnecessary clean room preparations and high waste rates.
Innovation Solution
A non-destructive three-dimensional imaging process using quantitative computed tomography or other imaging modalities to generate accurate bone parameters, such as cortical thickness and density, allowing for the creation of a cutting plan that optimizes implant production and reduces waste by assessing bone suitability before processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If destructive cutting and caliper measurement are used to assess bone suitability, then direct measurement of bone dimensions is achieved, but the bone is damaged and clean room preparation is required, increasing cost and time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical measurement methods (cutting and caliper measurement) with non-contact radiographic imaging methods. X-ray or CT imaging allows accurate measurement of bone dimensions, cortical thickness, and density without physically touching or damaging the bone, thereby eliminating the need for clean room preparation and decontamination procedures
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a digital radiographic copy or image of the bone that can be measured and analyzed without affecting the original bone. The imaging process produces detailed visual representations that allow for precise measurement of bone parameters while the bone itself remains intact and uncontaminated
2Loss of time
If radiographic methods are used to assess bone dimensions, then non-destructive measurement is achieved, but projection and focus effects reduce measurement accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from two-dimensional projection radiography to three-dimensional CT imaging. The CT scanner acquires multiple projection images from different angles and reconstructs them into cross-sectional slices, allowing measurement of cortical thickness at any location within the bone without the projection effects that plague 2D imaging. This dimensional change enables accurate measurement of structures that appear superimposed in 2D images
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the bone into multiple cross-sectional slices through CT reconstruction. Each slice represents a thin section of the bone at a specific location, allowing independent measurement of cortical thickness and density at that specific level. This segmentation eliminates the projection effect where structures at different depths overlap in 2D images, as each CT slice captures only the anatomy at that specific depth plane
3Reliability
If multiple bones are examined using destructive methods, then suitability assessment is performed, but waste increases and yield prediction is impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs comprehensive CT imaging and analysis of the entire bone before any cutting or processing occurs. The 3D measurements of cortical thickness, medullary cavity dimensions, and cancellous bone density are obtained in advance, allowing the bone to be fully evaluated for its potential to produce various implant types. This preliminary assessment enables accurate prediction of implant yield without damaging the bone
Solution Approach 2:
The patent measures multiple parameters simultaneously through CT imaging, including cortical thickness, inner and outer diameters, bone density, and structural geometry. These comprehensive parameter measurements provide a complete characterization of the bone's suitability for different implant applications, enabling reliable assessment without destroying the bone and allowing optimization of implant production plans to minimize waste
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
This approach enables precise, non-destructive assessment of bone parameters, improving the accuracy of implant production planning, reducing waste, and optimizing the selection of suitable implants, thereby enhancing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of bone transplant procedures.
Implementation Method 1
imaging a bone to produce a three-dimensional image of the bone, preferably using computed tomography
Implementation Method 2
producing the image by computed tomography; in another aspect, producing the image step comprises producing the image by peripheral computed tomography
Data Source
AI summary
A procedure for determining a plan for cutting a bone sample for use as an implant provides scanning the bone with a CT scanning system to provide slice images of the bone. The scanning system then determines the cortical or cancellous bone dimensions and density of the bone. Determining such dimensions and density permits accurate planning and preparation of an implant graft that is correlated to the predetermined plan without waste of bone through cutting test specimens to determine the bone parameters. Other images techniques that provide slice images are also disclosed.