Foldable Orbital Floor Implant via Maxillary Sinus Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical techniques for treating orbital floor fractures are invasive, risk damaging the lower eyelid, lacrimal apparatus, and optic nerve, and face challenges in accessing posterior fractures and handling fatty tissues.
Innovation Solution
A foldable and plastically extendible implant device designed for endonasal prelacrimal approach, which can be inserted through a small opening and extended to cover the orbital floor fracture, reducing the need for invasive fastening means and providing better visibility and adaptability to individual anatomy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If transconjunctival or subciliary incision approaches are used for implantation, then the implant can be positioned on the orbital floor, but the risk of damage to the lower eyelid, lacrimal apparatus, and optic nerve increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the maxillary sinus cavity as an intermediary space to access the orbital floor. The implant is inserted through the lateral nasal wall into the maxillary sinus, then advanced cranially to reach the orbital floor from below, avoiding direct incisions in the eyelid or conjunctiva and eliminating the need to displace the eyeball, thus preventing damage to the lower eyelid, lacrimal apparatus, and optic nerve
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of accessing the orbital floor from above (through eyelid or conjunctival incisions), the patent inverts the approach by accessing it from below through the maxillary sinus. This reverse approach allows implantation without the harmful effects associated with traditional superior approaches
2Area of stationary object
If the implant device is made large enough to cover extensive fracture zones, then coverage is improved, but the difficulty of insertion through minimal access increases
Solution Approach 1:
The implant device is designed with dynamic characteristics, being flexible and foldable to allow compression into a compact form for insertion through a small opening in the lateral nasal wall. Once positioned in the maxillary sinus, the implant can be extended and unfolded to achieve full coverage of the orbital floor fracture zone, thus resolving the contradiction between size and insertability
Solution Approach 2:
The implant device can be folded or compressed into a compact configuration that nests within the insertion channel, allowing it to pass through the small opening in the lateral nasal wall. After insertion into the maxillary sinus, the implant is deployed to its full extended configuration to cover the fracture area
3Adaptability or versatility
If the implant device is made extendible to adapt to individual anatomy, then adaptability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The implant device incorporates parameters that allow it to change its physical state from a compressed, folded configuration for insertion to an extended, deployed configuration for coverage. The material and structural design enable the implant to be compressed to a small size for insertion through the lateral nasal wall, then extended to adapt to the specific dimensions of the patient's orbital floor and maxillary sinus
Data Source
AI summary
The invention refers to an implant device (10) for treating an orbital floor fracture. The implant device (10) is foldable in a first direction between a folded state and an unfolded state and is plastically extendible in a second direction from an unextended state to an extended state. In the extended state, the implant device (10) has an extension in the second direction that is longer than a length in the unextended state and equal to or greater than an aperture distance of a human maxillary sinus in an anterior-posterior direction. The invention further refers to a related implantation tool, to a related implantation system for treating orbital blow fractures and to a corresponding implantation method.