Fracture Treatment via Drilling and Injection for Uniform Bone Healing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for treating fractures fail to deliver biological agents uniformly across the complete fracture line, including the contralateral surface, leading to ineffective healing and potential complications such as delayed or incomplete union, especially in scaphoid fractures with unique blood supply challenges.
Innovation Solution
A method involving drilling across the fracture line using a drilling device that also serves as an injection device, with optional temporary internal fixation and cannula placement, to deliver biological agents like BMPs or statins uniformly across the fractured bone surface, ensuring at least 50% of the fracture surface receives a therapeutic level of the agent.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If biological agents are injected percutaneously to only one side of the outer surface of the fracture, then the injection procedure is simple, but approximately three quarters of the fracture receives none or very little amount of biological agent
Solution Approach 1:
The fracture surface is divided into multiple zones (first surface and second surface) and the biological agent delivery system is segmented into multiple delivery points (first and second openings) to ensure comprehensive coverage of all fracture surfaces
Solution Approach 2:
The injection approach transitions from a single-point percutaneous injection to a multi-dimensional delivery system that accesses both surfaces of the fracture through drilled pathways, creating three-dimensional distribution of the biological agent
2Manufacturing precision
If drilling across the fracture line is performed to deliver biological agent uniformly, then biological agent distribution uniformity is improved, but the procedure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The drilling device serves multiple functions: it creates the drilled pathway through the bone, acts as a guide for cannula placement, and facilitates biological agent delivery through the same opening, thereby reducing overall procedure complexity despite the drilling step
Solution Approach 2:
The cannula is placed over the fixation device and the drilling device is inserted through the cannula, creating a nested arrangement where each component guides and supports the previous one, simplifying the overall procedure
3Stability of the object's composition
If temporary internal fixation device is placed across the fracture line, then fracture stability is improved, but the procedure time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The temporary internal fixation device is placed across the fracture line before the biological agent delivery procedure, establishing stability in advance and allowing the subsequent drilling and injection to be performed without compromising fracture alignment
Solution Approach 2:
The fixation device is designed to be temporary rather than permanent, allowing dynamic adjustment and removal based on healing progress, which balances immediate stability needs with long-term treatment flexibility
Data Source
AI summary
A method and kit for treating fractures in a subject entailing placing a temporary fixation device containing a wire in a percutaneous manner across a fracture line, drilling across the fracture line and delivering a biological agent. The biological device is delivered through an injection device which may be the same as the drilling device or different therefrom. The biological agent is delivered uniformly across the complete fractured bone and to the contralateral surface of the fractured bone through an injection device. The method may comprise additional steps of sliding a cannula over the fixation device and affixing the cannula to an outer surface of the fracture. In this embodiment, the drilling device, and later the injection device are placed within the cannula.