Cannulated Knotless Suture Anchor With Aligned Eyelet Insertion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing knotless suture anchors face challenges in locating and inserting into bone holes due to small size and difficult visualization in tight joint spaces, particularly in minimally invasive surgeries, and require complex knotting processes that are tedious and irritating to surrounding tissues.
Innovation Solution
A cannulated suture anchor system with a cannulated inserter member and a saddle implant, featuring a distal eyelet and aligning features, allows for secure insertion and tensioning of sutures without knots, using a handle with a cleat to maintain suture tension and a threader tab for easy suture threading.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If a small-sized suture anchor is used to minimize invasiveness, then the benefit of minimally invasive surgery is improved, but the difficulty of locating and inserting the anchor into the bone hole increases
Solution Approach 1:
The suture anchor is nested within the inserter member, which provides a larger external structure for manipulation and insertion. The inserter member acts as a delivery system that houses the small anchor, allowing the surgeon to easily handle and position the anchor through the bone hole without directly manipulating the small anchor itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The inserter member serves as an intermediary tool between the surgeon and the small suture anchor. It provides a larger, more visible structure for manipulation while delivering the small anchor to the target location, thus resolving the contradiction between small anchor size and ease of insertion.
2Ease of operation
If knotless anchoring is used to eliminate knotting complexity and tissue irritation, then the ease of operation and reduction of tissue irritation are improved, but the requirement for precise alignment and insertion accuracy increases
Solution Approach 1:
The suture is pre-threaded through the inserter member and anchor assembly before insertion. This preliminary configuration ensures that once the anchor is inserted into the bone hole, the suture is already in position and can be immediately tensioned without requiring knot tying, thus maintaining ease of operation while achieving precise positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The knotless anchor design allows the suture to be tensioned and secured automatically through the mechanical action of inserting and tensioning the anchor, without requiring the surgeon to perform additional knot-tying actions. The system self-secures the suture through the tensioning mechanism built into the anchor and inserter assembly.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the joint space is tight and visualization is difficult, then the benefit of minimally invasive surgery is maintained, but the difficulty of visualizing the bone hole and performing precise insertion increases
Solution Approach 1:
The inserter member and associated tools provide enhanced visual contrast and visibility through their design features, such as colored markers or high-visibility surfaces, allowing the surgeon to easily locate and track the insertion tool and anchor within the tight joint space despite limited visualization conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
Various exemplary devices, systems, and methods for knotless suture anchor fixation are provided. In general, a suture anchor system is configured for knotless suture anchor insertion in a soft tissue repair surgical procedure. The inserter tool is configured to insert an anchor and an implant into a bone of a patient to secure a soft tissue relative to the bone. A suture is releasably coupled to a distal eyelet of the inserter tool and is captured by an implant that is advanced along an inner shaft of the shaft and secured by the suture anchor into the bone hole. The distal eyelet and implant are aligned with one another to position, capture, and secure the suture in the bone hole.