Deformable Suture Anchor with Crossmember for Endoscopic Fixation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional suture anchors either use all suture material or are knotless, but not both, and lack a design that allows for secure attachment to skeletal structures with a low profile and increased contact area, especially in endoscopic surgical contexts where flexible tissues are involved.
Innovation Solution
A deformable or flexible suture anchor with a crossmember and cannulated suture design that forms a loop, allowing for secure attachment to skeletal structures without knots, using all suture material and providing a larger contact area, facilitating insertion and fixation through a knotless cinching mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a conventional suture anchor uses all suture material or knotless design, then the anchor can be inserted with a single motion and provides secure attachment, but it lacks a low profile with increased contact area for soft tissue applications
Solution Approach 1:
The suture anchor is divided into multiple segments including a head portion, a body portion, and a deformable section. This segmentation allows the anchor to be inserted in a compressed state and then expand to provide increased contact area with the tissue, resolving the contradiction between ease of insertion and contact area.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformable section of the suture anchor allows the structure to dynamically change from a compressed insertion state to an expanded deployed state. This dynamic transformation enables the anchor to provide both easy single-motion insertion and increased contact area for soft tissue applications.
2Reliability
If a suture anchor is designed with a larger contact area for soft tissue, then the risk of tearing is reduced, but the profile increases making insertion more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The suture anchor body is nested within itself in a compressed configuration during insertion, similar to a nested doll structure. This allows the larger contact area structure to be packaged in a smaller insertion profile, reducing insertion complexity while maintaining reliability against tissue tearing.
Solution Approach 2:
The anchor transitions from a static compressed insertion form to a dynamic expanded deployed form. This dynamic transformation allows the structure to provide large contact area for tissue resistance only when needed in the deployed state, while maintaining simplicity during insertion.
3Ease of operation
If the suture anchor uses a deformable structure to pass through apertures, then insertion is facilitated, but the anchor must resume a larger size for securement
Solution Approach 1:
The deformable section enables the anchor to dynamically adjust its size - compressing for easy passage through apertures and expanding for strong securement. This dynamic size transformation resolves the contradiction between insertion ease and securement strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The physical parameters of the suture anchor (specifically its dimensions and shape) are changed through the deformable section. The anchor transitions from a compressed parameter state during insertion to an expanded parameter state for securement, facilitating both easy insertion and strong attachment.
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
The solution enables secure attachment to both rigid and soft tissues with enhanced stability and reduced risk of tearing, allowing for effective use in endoscopic surgeries by merging the benefits of all-suture and knotless designs, providing a low-profile, radio-lucent anchor with increased contact area and ease of insertion.
Implementation Method 1
The body includes a deformable section adapted to compress the suture anchor for passage through the surgical aperture and expand the suture anchor for restraining the suture anchor against the surgical aperture
Data Source
AI summary
A deformable or flexible suture anchor having apertures secures a suture to a skeletal structure via holes drilled through the skeletal structure, and passing the suture therethrough. A deformable structure permits the anchor to resiliently deform or bend for passing through an aperture, and resume a size larger than the passed aperture for securement on an opposed side of the aperture.