Drill Guide Alignment Tool for Knee Arthroplasty
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing femoral drill guides require complex alignment processes due to the layering of components, leading to tolerance stackups and increased difficulty in accurately positioning drilling holes during knee arthroplasty procedures.
Innovation Solution
A drill guide with a body and alignment tool featuring pivotably connected arms that allow lateral movement while maintaining fixed orientation with the femoral intramedullary rod, and a movable foot system for precise alignment with the joint bones, eliminating the need for feeler gauges and simplifying the alignment process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a tibial template and drill guide are layered together with feeler gauges for alignment, then the drill guide can be positioned on the joint, but tolerance stackup increases and alignment precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The drill guide body is directly coupled to the intramedullary rod through the alignment tool, merging multiple components into a single integrated alignment system. This eliminates the layered assembly of tibial template plus drill guide plus feeler gauges, thereby removing the associated tolerance stackup and improving hole placement precision while simplifying the alignment process
2Ease of operation
If multiple components are layered for alignment (tibial template, drill guide, feeler gauge), then alignment can be achieved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment tool integrates the functions of multiple separate components (tibial template positioning, drill guide alignment, and feeler gauge spacing) into a single device that directly couples the drill guide body to the intramedullary rod, thereby reducing the number of components and simplifying the overall system while maintaining full alignment capability
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment tool serves multiple functions simultaneously: it positions the drill guide body relative to the joint, aligns the drilling holes with the intramedullary rod, and maintains proper spacing without requiring separate feeler gauges or templates, thereby reducing device complexity while preserving comprehensive alignment functionality
3Ease of manufacture
If the drill guide uses fixed alignment components, then manufacturing is simplified, but adaptability to different joint configurations is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment tool incorporates a pivotable connection between its arms, allowing the distance between arms to be altered to match different joint configurations. This dynamic adjustability enables the same device to adapt to various anatomical variations while maintaining straightforward manufacturing of the individual components
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A drill guide comprising: a body comprising a hole extending therethrough for guiding a drill; and an alignment tool, the alignment tool being operable to connect the body to an intramedullary rod, such that the orientation of the body is fixable with respect to the intramedullary rod in an anteroposterior plane and in a transverse plane.