In-situ Additive Manufactured Motion-Sparing Spinal Implants
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional medical implants, particularly spinal implants, are often pre-manufactured in mass quantities, leading to customization issues, access challenges, high costs due to packaging, shipping, and labor-intensive assembly, and may restrict spinal motion and shock absorption.
Innovation Solution
An additive-manufacturing system that prints motion-sparing implants in-situ during surgery using a robotic subsystem and controller, combining rigid and pliable materials to create custom-fit implants that can be precisely positioned and oriented within the patient's anatomy, reducing manual labor and costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If pre-manufactured implants are used, then manufacturing efficiency is improved, but customization to patient anatomy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-planning the implant geometry based on patient imaging data before surgery, and by having pre-loaded material reservoirs and toolpaths ready in the additive manufacturing system. This allows rapid custom implant creation in-situ without requiring pre-manufacturing, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing efficiency and patient-specific customization.
2Productivity
If pre-manufactured implants are used, then production scalability is improved, but access to target implant position deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The additive manufacturing system performs self-service by directly depositing implant material at the target surgical site using robotic positioning and in-situ printing capabilities. This eliminates the need to deliver pre-manufactured implants through difficult-to-access corridors, allowing the system to create and place the implant exactly where needed regardless of anatomical access challenges.
3Strength
If conventional implants are used, then structural strength is improved, but spinal motion and shock absorption deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by selectively depositing different material properties at different locations within the implant structure. Rigid materials are placed where structural strength is needed for load-bearing, while pliable or porous materials are placed in regions requiring shock absorption and motion preservation. This spatial variation in material properties resolves the contradiction between overall strength and spinal physiology preservation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system utilizes composite materials by combining multiple material types (rigid polymers, metals, ceramics, and pliable materials) within a single implant structure. This allows the implant to simultaneously provide structural strength through rigid components and shock absorption through compliant components, resolving the contradiction between strength and spinal motion preservation.
4Manufacturing precision
If in-situ printing is performed, then access and positioning precision are improved, but manufacturing complexity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies segmentation by dividing the complex in-situ printing process into manageable segments: (1) patient imaging and virtual planning, (2) robotic positioning and alignment, (3) selective material deposition layer-by-layer, and (4) in-situ curing or solidification. This segmentation reduces the perceived complexity by making each step independent and controllable, while achieving high positioning precision through coordinated robotic movement and layer-by-layer construction.
Data Source
AI summary
An additive-manufacturing system for printing spinal implants in-situ, within a patient, is disclosed. The system may include a robotic subsystem having scanning and imaging equipment and an armature including at least one dispensing nozzle and a controller apparatus having a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The controller may control the scanning and imaging equipment to determine a target alignment of a patients spine, develop an in-situ-printing plan including an in-situ material selection plan based on the target alignment of the patients spine, an interbody access space, and a disc space between adjacent vertebra of the patients spine, and execute the in-situ-printing plan. The controller may further control the armature to dispense at least one material chosen from a rigid material and a pliable material to form at least one motion-sparing implant.