Hydrogel Bone Void Filler for Vertebral Height Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current bone void fillers used in procedures like vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty lack effectiveness in maintaining vertebral body height and preventing further collapse, as they do not provide sufficient cohesion and stability within the bone voids.
Innovation Solution
A bone void filler material comprising pre-set hydrogel microparticulates and a carrier component, such as an adhesive, is introduced into the bone void, where the hydrogel swells upon exposure to body fluids, maintaining cohesion and stability, and optionally includes additives like fibrous materials and radiopacifiers for reinforcement and visibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional bone cement is used as bone void filler, then the material can be easily injected, but it lacks sufficient cohesion and stability to maintain vertebral body height and prevent further collapse
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses a composite material system consisting of hydrogel microparticulates dispersed in a carrier component. The hydrogel particles provide strength, cohesion, and stability, while the carrier component ensures flowability and injectability. This composite structure resolves the contradiction by combining materials with complementary properties to achieve both structural integrity and ease of injection.
Solution Approach 2:
The hydrogel microparticulates undergo parameter changes when exposed to body fluids, specifically swelling to increase in volume. This transformation allows the material to be injected in a flowable state and then transform into a cohesive, space-filling mass that provides structural support and maintains vertebral body height.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the filler material is made cohesive to maintain stability, then it can prevent vertebral collapse, but it becomes difficult to introduce into the bone void
Solution Approach 1:
The filler material exhibits dynamic properties, transitioning from a flowable state during injection to a cohesive state after implantation. The carrier component enables flowability for easy introduction, while the hydrogel microparticulates provide cohesion once positioned in the bone void, resolving the contradiction between introducibility and stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The carrier component acts as an intermediary that facilitates the introduction of hydrogel microparticulates into the bone void. It maintains the particles in a flowable suspension during injection and then allows them to form a cohesive mass once implanted, enabling both easy introduction and subsequent stability.
3Volume of moving object
If the hydrogel microparticulates are used to fill the vertebral body, then they can swell to maintain height, but they may lack mechanical reinforcement
Solution Approach 1:
The invention combines hydrogel microparticulates with optional reinforcing additives such as fibrous materials to create a composite filler material. The hydrogel provides swelling capacity to maintain vertebral body volume and height, while the fibrous additives contribute mechanical strength and structural reinforcement, resolving the contradiction between swelling capacity and mechanical strength.
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 filler material effectively maintains vertebral body height and prevents further collapse by providing a cohesive, flowable, and swelling hydrogel mass within the bone void, while optional additives enhance mechanical strength and visibility during procedures.
Implementation Method 1
The microparticulates of the hydrogel component are substantially a solid, but swell upon exposure to body fluids to substantially fill the vertebral body
Data Source
AI summary
A bone void filler material, including a hydrogel component provided by microparticulates of pre-set hydrogel material dispersed within a carrier component to maintain the microparticulates substantially proximate to one another so that the resulting fill material is rendered as a substantially flowable mass.