Custom Bone Plate Alignment via Additive Manufacturing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current fixing bone plates used in dental and orthognathic surgeries lack precise alignment with bone morphological characteristics, leading to prolonged surgeries and potential post-operative issues like malocclusions, overbite, or poor bite due to manual adjustment and locking by surgeons.

Innovation Solution

A fixing bone plate with a customizable attachment surface designed using computer-processed data, incorporating a plate body and locking portion, and an attachment portion that can be manufactured using laser additive manufacturing or 3D metal printing, allowing precise alignment and secure attachment based on bone features, featuring an engagement device like a bone nail or screw for secure fixation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of manufacture

If manual adjustment and locking of bone plate is performed by surgeon based on experience, then the surgery can be completed with standard bone plates, but the operation time is prolonged and surgical precision is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveUse of standard bone plateVSAvoidOperation time

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The bone plate is pre-customized according to the patient's specific bone morphology before surgery. The attachment surface is designed in advance to match the patient's bone features, eliminating the need for manual adjustment during surgery and reducing operation time.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The invention changes the parameters of the bone plate by creating customized variants for different patients based on their specific bone morphology. This includes varying the attachment surface geometry, plate curvature, and dimensional parameters to precisely match individual patient anatomy.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Ease of manufacture

If manual adjustment and locking of bone plate is performed by surgeon based on experience, then the surgery can be completed with standard bone plates, but the surgical precision and alignment accuracy are reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveUse of standard bone plateVSAvoidAlignment precision

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The attachment surface of the bone plate is pre-designed to precisely match the patient's bone morphology before surgery. This preliminary customization ensures that the bone plate aligns accurately with the patient's specific bone features, improving surgical precision and reducing reliance on surgeon experience.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The invention modifies the geometric parameters of the bone plate, including the attachment surface shape, plate curvature, and dimensional characteristics, to precisely match individual patient anatomy. This parameter customization enables accurate alignment that cannot be achieved with standard bone plates.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Ease of manufacture

If standard bone plate is used without customization, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the attachment precision to bone morphology is insufficient

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveManufacturing simplicityVSAvoidAttachment precision

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The invention creates customized bone plate variants by modifying key parameters such as attachment surface geometry, plate curvature, and dimensional characteristics based on patient-specific bone morphology data obtained from CT scans and 3D modeling.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

4Manufacturing precision

If customized bone plate is manufactured for each patient, then the attachment precision and alignment accuracy are improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveAttachment precisionVSAvoidCustomization complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS11707306B2Fixing bone plate

Publication Date: 2023.07.25 SHE CHENG XIN

AI summary

Disclosed is a fixing bone plate, which comprises a plate body. The plate body is provided with a plate main part and a locking portion passing through the plate body. The plate main part is connected to the locking portion at the corresponding two ends of the plate body. The fixing bone plate also comprises an attachment portion. The attachment portion is provided with a bone attachment surface. The attachment portion is disposed on the other side of the locking portion. The plate body can be manufactured by using a metal laser additive manufacturing technique or a 3D metal printing technique. The fixing bone plate can be accurately positioned and stably combined with a human bone according to morphological characteristics of bones.