Flexible Blade Spinal Inserter for Controlled Distraction and Extraction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for placing bone grafts and implants in the anterior spine lack efficient distraction, protection from tissue contact, controlled motion during delivery, smooth implantation, and easy extraction, leading to limitations in existing spinal implant insertion techniques.
Innovation Solution
A vertebral body implant inserter with a flexible bracket and detachable blades, a threaded shaft, and a sliding pusher rod mechanism that allows for distraction, protection, controlled motion, and easy extraction, enabling precise placement and removal of implants.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If rigid blades are used to deliver the implant, then the implant can be delivered with protection from tissue contact, but the instrument cannot provide effective distraction and is difficult to extract
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the blades flexible rather than rigid, allowing them to bend and adapt during insertion and extraction. The flexible blades can be straightened during extraction to clear the implant, solving both the protection and extraction difficulty problems simultaneously.
2Reliability
If the implant is pushed into the disc space using impact force, then the implant is secured in place, but the blades cannot be easily removed
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible blades allow the instrument to withstand impact forces during implant insertion while maintaining the ability to bend and flex during removal. This dynamic flexibility enables the blades to be rocked and pulled out after implantation, solving the blade removal difficulty.
3Manufacturing precision
If the blades are held rigidly together, then the implant delivery is controlled, but the disc space cannot be effectively distracted
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible blades can be slightly separated or spread apart while still maintaining controlled implant delivery. This dynamic separation capability allows for effective disc space distraction while preserving implant delivery control, resolving the contradiction between rigidity and distraction.
4Ease of manufacture
If the instrument structure is simplified, then the device is easier to manufacture, but it lacks the capability for controlled motion and protection during delivery
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses flexible blades that are relatively simple in structure but provide both protection and controlled motion through their flexibility. This approach maintains ease of manufacture while achieving the required controlled delivery and protection capabilities.
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 inserter provides effective distraction, protects implants from tissue contact, controls motion for smooth delivery, and facilitates easy extraction, addressing the limitations of existing methods by ensuring precise and efficient placement of spinal implants.
Implementation Method 1
a pair of spring members (such as leaf springs) extending from the outer surface
Implementation Method 2
a shaft slidable within the throughbore, the shaft having an outer surface having a threadform thereon
Data Source
AI summary
An implant inserter for use in ALIF spine surgery, wherein the inserter has a flexible bracket, biased closed, onto which two long blades can be removably attached.