Fibrocartilage Suturing Device With Foldable Anchor Wings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current suturing devices for broken metatarsal fibrocartilage surgery are cumbersome and risky due to the difficulty in positioning anchors within small spaces, leading to increased surgery time and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A fibrocartilage suturing device with a tube assembly, tubular member, and anchor featuring foldable wings that unfold to stabilize within the fibrocartilage, reducing deformation and foreign body sensation, and a thread system for secure anchoring, designed to simplify the surgery process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional suturing device is used in fibrocartilage surgery, then the surgery can be performed, but the anchor is difficult to position steadily and may turn or move back due to the small surgical space
Solution Approach 1:
The anchor is designed with foldable wings that can transition between folded and unfolded states. During insertion, the wings are folded to reduce profile; upon deployment, they unfold to engage with the fibrocartilage, providing stable positioning. This dynamic transformation allows the anchor to adapt to the confined surgical space while ensuring reliable fixation.
Solution Approach 2:
The anchor body is designed to contain the thread within its structure during the insertion phase. The thread is positioned within the anchor body, allowing the entire assembly to be inserted through the small surgical space as a compact unit. After insertion, the thread is released to provide suturing function, effectively nesting one component within another to overcome spatial constraints.
2Reliability
If the anchor is designed with complex structure to prevent turning and moving back, then positioning stability improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The anchor is segmented into a body and multiple foldable wings that can independently deploy. This segmentation allows each wing to engage with the fibrocartilage separately, providing stable positioning through distributed contact points rather than requiring a single complex anchoring mechanism. The modular design simplifies manufacturing while achieving reliable fixation.
Solution Approach 2:
The anchor is constructed using biodegradable materials that combine structural integrity with gradual degradation properties. This composite approach allows the anchor to maintain its shape and positioning stability during the critical healing period while avoiding long-term foreign body reactions. The material composition provides both mechanical strength for initial fixation and controlled degradation for eventual resorption.
3Reliability
If the anchor structure is made complex to avoid deformation under pressure, then positioning stability improves, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The anchor body features localized reinforcement at critical stress points, particularly at the wing-root junctions and along the pressure-bearing surfaces. Rather than uniformly thickening the entire structure, the design concentrates material where mechanical loads are highest, providing resistance to deformation under compression while minimizing overall material usage and manufacturing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The foldable wings are pre-configured in a folded state during manufacturing and assembly, allowing the anchor to be produced and stored in a compact, manageable form. The deployment mechanism is pre-loaded during assembly, so that upon insertion into the fibrocartilage, the wings automatically unfold to their functional configuration. This preliminary preparation simplifies manufacturing logistics and reduces assembly complexity while ensuring proper deployment under surgical conditions.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If the anchor is designed to avoid foreign body sensation, then patient comfort improves, but the structural simplicity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The anchor is designed with biodegradable material properties that change over time. Initially, the material provides high structural integrity to maintain positioning stability. As the fibrocartilage heals, the material gradually degrades and resorbs, transforming from a rigid foreign body to a disappearing structure. This temporal parameter change in material properties eliminates long-term foreign body sensations while maintaining structural requirements during the critical healing period.
Solution Approach 2:
The anchor is designed as a temporary, biodegradable implant rather than a permanent fixture. The biodegradable material allows the anchor to fulfill its positioning and suturing functions during the healing period, then naturally resorb into harmless byproducts that the body can eliminate. This approach replaces permanent metal or plastic anchors with temporary organic materials, eliminating chronic foreign body reactions while providing adequate mechanical support when needed.
Data Source
AI summary
A fibrocartilage suturing device is provided to solve the problem where the conventional procedure of the surgery is inconvenient. The fibrocartilage suturing device includes a tube assembly, a tubular member, and an anchor. The tube assembly extends through the tube assembly and includes an insertion section. The movement member is coupled with the tube assembly and includes a thrust rod extending through the tubular member. The anchor is located at one end of the thrust rod and includes a body and at least two wings connected to the body is able to be folded and unfolded relative to the body. The body of the anchor is connected to an end of a thread. Another end of the thread is connected to the tubular member.