Keyed Electrotherapeutic Anchor for Implant Position Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current spinal cord stimulation (SCS) devices experience unwanted migration or movement from the desired treatment site due to the smooth outer body surface of electrical stimulators, leading to reduced therapeutic efficacy, increased risk of infection, and the need for revisionary surgeries.
Innovation Solution
An anchor with a keyed outer surface and retaining cavity is used to secure an electrotherapeutic stimulating member, featuring complementary keyed shapes to prevent movement, combined with retaining channels for sutures to maintain the device's position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a smooth outer body surface is used on the electrical stimulator, then the device is easy to manufacture and has simple structure, but the stimulator migrates or moves from the desired treatment site
Solution Approach 1:
The stimulator body is segmented into multiple control sections with different surface characteristics. The keyed outer surface is divided into complementary shaped sections that interlock with the anchor, creating distinct functional zones that prevent migration while maintaining manufacturing feasibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The stimulator employs asymmetric keyed surfaces with complementary shapes that create a non-uniform interface with the anchor. This asymmetric design prevents rotation and migration by ensuring only one correct orientation fits, directly addressing the position stability issue.
2Ease of operation
If traditional sutures are used to secure the stimulator, then the implantation procedure is simple, but the sutures fail to prevent migration due to reduced friction in fluidic environment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the friction-based suture retention system with a mechanical interlocking keyed surface system. The complementary keyed shapes create a deterministic mechanical connection that does not rely on friction, eliminating the failure mode in fluidic environments while maintaining surgical simplicity.
3Duration of action of stationary object
If the stimulator is permanently retained in the desired position, then therapeutic pain relief is maintained over time, but the device requires complex anchoring structures
Solution Approach 1:
The anchor and stimulator are merged into a unified system where the keyed outer surface of the stimulator complements the keyed inner surface of the anchor. This merging creates a single integrated retention mechanism that ensures permanent positioning without requiring additional complex components.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrotherapeutic device includes a stimulation member and an anchor to retain the stimulation member at the treatment site of implantation. The stimulating member and the anchor have surfaces that are “keyed” to each other, such that when the stimulating member is inserted in the anchor, the stimulating member is resistant to moving relative to the anchor. The anchor also includes one or more retaining channels, which are configured to receive sutures therein that are used to secure the anchor to the treatment site of implantation, which prevent the anchor from moving or migrating relative to the treatment site.