Interverbral Implant with Segmented Bone Ingrowth Pockets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current implantable medical devices intended for placement between vertebrae face a design challenge in balancing functionality and handling characteristics, often sacrificing one for the other, and new manufacturing technologies introduce additional workflow complexities.
Innovation Solution
The development of medical devices with specific features such as a main body with teeth, pockets, support elements, and windows that promote bone ingrowth, combined with advanced manufacturing methods like 3D-printing, which allows for precise design and production while minimizing handling difficulties during implantation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If implantable medical devices are designed with complex functional features for bone ingrowth and structural support, then functionality is improved, but handling characteristics during implantation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The medical device is divided into multiple functional segments including a main body with teeth for vertebral engagement, pockets containing support elements for bone ingrowth, and windows for additional bone contact. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function while the overall device maintains manageable handling characteristics through modular design
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the device possess distinct properties tailored to local requirements: the teeth feature sharp edges for cutting bone, the pockets contain porous support elements for bone ingrowth, and the windows provide flat surfaces for bone contact. This local differentiation enables optimized functionality in each zone without compromising overall device manageability
2Ease of operation
If additive manufacturing technologies are used to produce medical devices with desired handling characteristics, then ease of handling is improved, but functionality is sacrificed
Solution Approach 1:
The device merges multiple functional elements into a single integrated structure manufactured via additive manufacturing. The main body, teeth, pockets, support elements, and windows are combined into one cohesive component that maintains both handling ease and full functionality through unified construction rather than assembly of separate parts
3Productivity
If new manufacturing technologies are adopted for medical device production, then productivity and prototyping rate are improved, but workflow complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device design incorporates all necessary functional features and structural details in the initial additive manufacturing process. The teeth, pockets, support elements, and windows are all created in a single manufacturing step, eliminating the need for subsequent complex assembly operations or multiple manufacturing stages, thus reducing workflow complexity despite using advanced manufacturing technology
Data Source
AI summary
Methods of making medical devices are described. An example device is an implant used in spaces between vertebrae in a vertebral column of an animal. The example medical device includes a main body that has a lengthwise axis, a proximal end, a distal end, a length that extends from the proximal end to the distal end, an upper wall, a lower wall, a first lateral wall, a second lateral wall, and defines a plurality of pockets, a plurality of pocket supports, an interior chamber, a plurality of windows, and a recess. A pocket support of the plurality of pocket supports is disposed within each pocket of the plurality of pockets. A first mask includes an elongate member and a plurality of projections and is integrally formed with the medical device main body. The mask is used for performing a finishing process on the device and subsequently removed using a tool.