Extremity Bone Guide Instrument for Adjustable Wire Fixation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bone fixation implants for fusing bones, such as those used in hammertoe correction, require multiple components and intricate mating features, leading to increased costs and less desirable healing outcomes, necessitating highly technical surgical procedures.
Innovation Solution
A surgical instrument system comprising a first guide component and a second guide component, along with a trocar, designed for flexible fixation of extremity bones, allowing for adjustable alignment and visualization using radiopaque and radiolucent materials, facilitating simplified surgical procedures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional bone fixation implants use multiple components with intricate mating features, then customization for different bones and patients is achieved, but device complexity and surgical procedure difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The guide instrument is divided into multiple guide components (first guide component and second guide component) that can be independently positioned and secured in different bones. Each component has a guide channel for wire passage, allowing flexible configuration for various bone combinations without requiring complex mating features between all components.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide components are designed with universal features that allow them to be used across different bone types and patient scenarios. The same basic component design can accommodate various bone combinations (e.g., phalanges, metatarsals, calcaneus) by simply changing the number and arrangement of components, eliminating the need for highly customized implants for each scenario.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional bone fixation implants use generic screws and wires, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but adjustability intraoperatively is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The guide instrument incorporates dynamic adjustability through the ability to position and secure guide components at different locations along the guide axis. The components can be adjusted intraoperatively to accommodate varying bone geometries and surgical requirements, while still using relatively simple guide channels and wire configurations rather than complex adjustable mechanisms.
3Manufacturing precision
If conventional bone fixation implants require highly technical surgical procedures, then precision and control are improved, but surgical time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The guide instrument acts as an intermediary tool that simplifies the surgical process by providing pre-formed guide channels and wire pathways. Instead of requiring the surgeon to create complex wiring configurations from scratch, the guide components pre-establish the necessary pathways, reducing surgical complexity and time while maintaining precision through the structured guide channel design.
4Stability of the object's composition
If conventional bone fixation implants create rigidly fused joints, then structural stability is achieved, but flexibility for different healing outcomes is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The guide instrument enables parameter changes in the fixation outcome by allowing adjustment of wire tension, guide component positioning, and guide channel configurations. These parameter adjustments can modify the rigidity of the fused joint to match different healing requirements and patient-specific needs, while still achieving stable fusion through the wire and guide component system.
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 system enables efficient and adjustable bone fixation with reduced complexity, improving healing outcomes and reducing the need for multiple surgical steps.
Implementation Method 1
The first guide body is radiopaque. The second guide component has a second component body... The second component body is radiolucent.
Data Source
AI summary
A system configured to guide one or more wires or fixation elements toward one or more bone segments of extremity bones is provided.