Fiducial Screw Guide Tube for Minimally Invasive Bone Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fiducial markers used in surgical navigation, particularly in Minimal Invasive Surgery (MIS), suffer from poor navigation accuracy due to their invasive placement and the need for wide tissue openings, which is undesirable in MIS procedures.
Innovation Solution
A fiducial screw system comprising a screw shaft inserted into bone material and a screw head with a fastening interface, combined with an elongated tube forming a guiding channel, allowing for minimal invasive attachment and enabling navigation through a small stab incision, with the elongated tube being pivotable or rotatable for tool access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If fiducials are placed on the patient's skin, then the surgical procedure is minimally invasive, but navigation accuracy deteriorates due to distance from the bony structure
Solution Approach 1:
The fiducial marker is extended from a surface marker into the bone structure through a hollow bore, creating a three-dimensional configuration that simultaneously achieves minimal skin incision and close proximity to the bony structure for accurate navigation
2Measurement precision
If fiducials are configured as bone screws inserted into bone material, then navigation accuracy is improved, but tissue removal is required to expose the bone material
Solution Approach 1:
The hollow bore is pre-formed in the bone material before fiducial insertion, eliminating the need for additional tissue removal to expose the bone surface and allowing direct insertion of the fiducial marker with minimal invasive access
3Object-affected harmful factors
If fiducials are deeply placed in bone material using MIS techniques, then surgical invasiveness is minimized, but finding and touching the fiducials with navigation pointer becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The fiducial marker is inserted into a pre-formed hollow bore in the bone, creating a nested configuration where the fiducial resides within the bone cavity but remains accessible through the same minimal incision used for insertion
4Ease of operation
If a wide opening is made in patient's tissue for verification of navigation accuracy, then accessibility to fiducial is improved, but tissue injury is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The hollow bore is created beforehand through minimal invasive access, allowing the fiducial to be positioned deeply in the bone while maintaining small incision size and avoiding the need for wide tissue openings during verification procedures
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure provides a fiducial screw system (100). The system (100) comprises a fiducial screw (106) having a screw shaft (108) configured to be inserted into a bone material (102) and a screw head (110) having or forming a fastening interface (126) configured to cooperate with a fastening tool for inserting the fiducial screw (106) into the bone material (102). The system further comprises an elongated tube (112) forming a guiding channel (116), wherein the elongated tube (112) has a proximal longitudinal end (118) and a distal longitudinal end (120), and wherein the distal longitudinal end (120) is shaped to be attachable or attached to the fiducial screw (106), e.g., to its head (110), and the proximal longitudinal end (118) forms a guiding opening (122) leading into the guiding channel (116).