Drill Pin Suture Eyelet Segmentation and Nesting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current drill pins with small suture eyelets are difficult to thread with sutures, especially when multiple strands are used, making the procedure time-consuming and costly to manufacture.
Innovation Solution
A pin with a suture passing mechanism, such as a crimped or welded wire loop or a slotted suture eyelet, is used to facilitate easier suture loading and reduce manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If small suture eyelets are used in drill pins, then the pin structure is simple and manufacturing is easier, but threading sutures becomes difficult and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The suture eyelet is segmented into multiple components: a base eyelet structure and an attached wire loop. This segmentation allows the wire loop to be crimped or welded onto the eyelet, creating a larger opening that facilitates suture threading while keeping the base eyelet structure simple for manufacturing.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention adds a third dimension by attaching a wire loop that extends outward from the plane of the eyelet. This dimensional extension creates a larger effective opening and provides a more accessible path for threading sutures, particularly when multiple strands are involved.
2Ease of manufacture
If small suture eyelets are used in drill pins, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but the procedure becomes more time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The wire loop is pre-attached to the eyelet during manufacturing through crimping or welding. This preliminary action prepares the suture eyelet in advance, so that during surgery the suture can be directly threaded through the pre-prepared loop structure without requiring additional manipulation or preparation steps.
3Strength
If multiple suture strands are threaded through small eyelets, then suture fixation strength is improved, but the threading process becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple suture strands are nested within the wire loop structure. The loop provides a common pathway that accommodates multiple strands simultaneously, allowing them to be threaded together as a unit rather than individually through separate small eyelets, thus maintaining fixation strength while reducing threading difficulty.
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 suture passing mechanism simplifies the threading process and reduces the time required for suture loading, enhancing suture fixation strength and efficiency in anatomical tissue repair procedures like ligament reconstruction.
Implementation Method 1
The loop may be crimped onto the pin
Implementation Method 2
or welded on the end of the drill pin
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for anatomical tissue repair, such as ligament repair and reconstruction with suture and/or graft passage, employing a pin with a suture passing mechanism. The suture passing mechanism may include a loop (for example, a wire loop or suture loop) securely attached to a pin (for example, a drill pin). The loop may be crimped onto the pin, or welded on the end of the drill pin (in place of the eyelet formed within the pin), to alleviate the difficulty in threading the eyelet and to lower the manufacturing cost of the pin. The suture passing mechanism may alternatively include a slotted suture eyelet (i.e., a longitudinal slot) provided at a proximal end of a pin, to allow suture loading from the side of the instrument.