Expandable Bone Implant Linkage Design for Vertebral Height Restoration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current treatments for vertebral compression fractures (VCF) often fail to reposition fractured bones to their original size and shape, leading to spinal deformities and limited effectiveness in addressing the underlying structural issues.
Innovation Solution
An expandable implant with a body of linkages that expands from an insertion configuration to an expanded configuration, allowing for the restoration of vertebral body height and stabilization via minimally invasive surgical techniques, using a combination of polymeric materials and bone filler materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If bone cement is injected through a needle into the vertebral body, then fracture pain is reduced and further collapse is prevented, but the fractured bone cannot be repositioned to its original size and shape
Solution Approach 1:
The implant is divided into multiple linkages that can independently expand, allowing different regions of the vertebral body to be restored to different extents. This segmentation enables both stabilization (through cement injection) and shape restoration (through differential expansion of linkages) to occur simultaneously in different zones of the vertebral body.
Solution Approach 2:
The implant transitions from a compressed insertion configuration to an expanded configuration after implantation. This dynamic transformation allows the device to be inserted through a narrow cannula and then expand within the vertebral body to restore its original dimensions, addressing both stabilization and shape restoration needs.
2Shape
If an expandable member is inserted and expanded within the vertebral body, then the vertebral body height is restored, but the expandable member must be removed leaving a void that requires additional cement injection
Solution Approach 1:
The implant combines the height restoration function and the cement containment function into a single integrated device. The linkages themselves form the structure that expands to restore height while simultaneously serving as the containment walls for the injected cement, eliminating the need for separate expandable member removal and void filling steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The implant structure serves multiple functions: it acts as both the expandable element for height restoration and the containment structure for cement injection. The linkages provide both mechanical support for vertebral body restoration and structural boundaries for cement placement, reducing the overall treatment complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If linkages are made with different sizes, then selective expansion allows for customized vertebral body restoration, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Different linkages within the same implant are designed with different sizes and expansion characteristics to match the specific restoration needs of different vertebral body regions. This local customization allows the implant to address asymmetric fractures or deformities while maintaining a relatively simple overall manufacturing process through modular linkage design.
Data Source
AI summary
An expandable implant includes an implant body defining an internal void, the implant body including a plurality of interconnected linkages. A first plurality of the linkages has an expansion characteristic that is different from a second plurality of the linkages. An expandable bladder is sized to be disposed in the internal void. The bladder defines a bore configured to receive an expansion material, such that the expansion material applies an expansion force against the bladder, which thereby applies the expansion force against the implant body so as to cause the first linkage to expand greater than the second linkage. The expandable implant can be placed in a fracture location so as to restore height to a fractured target bone.