Diagonal Vertebral Stabilization Device for Mobility
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vertebral stabilization devices often completely block the movement of vertebrae, leading to reduced mobility and discomfort for patients, as they connect adjacent vertebrae with rods or bars parallel to the median sagittal plane.
Innovation Solution
A vertebral stabilization device with diagonally extending linking elements that intersect at the median sagittal plane, allowing for physiological angular clearance and flexibility in three spatial planes, thereby maintaining some mobility while providing stabilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If rods or bars extend on a plane parallel to the median sagittal plane to connect adjacent vertebrae, then stabilization is very effective, but mobility of the patient is blocked and becomes a handicap
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a two-dimensional arrangement (rods parallel to the median sagittal plane) to a three-dimensional arrangement (rods extending diagonally and intersecting at the median sagittal plane). This spatial reconfiguration allows the stabilization structure to accommodate physiological movements in multiple planes while maintaining vertebral stability, thereby resolving the contradiction between effective stabilization and patient mobility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a dynamic stabilization system where the diagonal rods intersecting at the median sagittal plane create a flexible structure that permits controlled angular clearance between vertebrae. This dynamic design allows the stabilization device to adapt to physiological movements rather than rigidly blocking them, maintaining stability while preserving necessary mobility.
2Reliability
If rods extend on a plane parallel to the median sagittal plane, then complete blocking of vertebral movements is achieved, but physiological clearance is lost
Solution Approach 1:
By arranging rods to extend diagonally and intersect at the median sagittal plane rather than parallel to it, the patent creates a three-dimensional stabilization structure that can accommodate physiological movements in multiple planes. This dimensional change allows the system to maintain reliable movement control while preserving necessary physiological clearance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the stabilization structure by using diagonal rod arrangements with specific lengths and intersection points. This parameter optimization allows the device to provide sufficient stabilization while permitting controlled angular clearance that matches physiological requirements.
3Adaptability or versatility
If linking elements are arranged diagonally intersecting at the median sagittal plane, then flexibility in three spatial planes is obtained, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the stabilization function into multiple diagonal rod segments that intersect at the median sagittal plane. Each rod segment handles specific directional loads and movements, allowing the complex three-dimensional flexibility requirement to be achieved through modular, segmented construction rather than a single complex structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent achieves three-dimensional flexibility by adding the vertical dimension to the rod arrangement, with rods intersecting at the median sagittal plane. This dimensional approach provides multi-planar flexibility using a relatively simple intersecting rod configuration rather than complex mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
A vertebral stabilisation device, consisting of at least two linking elements arranged to link two separate vertebrae together, and attachment elements for attaching the ends of each linking element to the two separate vertebrae, characterised in that the length of the linking elements and the arrangement of the attachment elements are such that each linking element can extend diagonally between the two vertebrae to which it is attached, intersecting the mean sagittal plane of the vertebral column, the two linking elements intersecting substantially at said plane, and in that at least the attachment elements situated on a same side of the mean sagittal plane of the vertebral column and on separate vertebrae are not attached to each other.