Joint Compression Slider Assembly With Low-Friction Rings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing arthrodesis procedures face challenges in effectively approximating bones and maintaining a compressive load for prolonged healing, often leading to issues with wear and corrosion due to metal-to-metal contact.
Innovation Solution
The surgical device employs a slider assembly with metallic sliders and thermoplastic rings to minimize metal-to-metal contact, utilizing a shape memory material connecting member to generate and maintain compressive force across bones, and includes a targeting guide for precise alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If metallic sliders are used in the compression device, then the device can generate and maintain compressive force across bones, but metal-to-metal contact causes wear and corrosion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a low-friction liner as an intermediary component between the metallic compression element and the outer tube. This liner acts as a mediator that prevents direct metal-to-metal contact while allowing the metallic slider to transmit compressive force effectively. The liner material is specifically selected to provide low friction and wear resistance, thereby maintaining reliability while preserving the force-generating capability of the metallic components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material construction by combining metallic sliders for force generation with non-metallic low-friction liners for wear protection. This composite approach integrates the advantages of both materials: the strength and rigidity of metal for maintaining compressive force, and the low friction and corrosion resistance of the liner material for improving reliability and reducing wear particulate formation.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If metal-to-metal contact is minimized, then wear particulate formation is reduced, but the device complexity increases due to additional components
Solution Approach 1:
The low-friction liner serves as a simple intermediary component that directly addresses wear particulate formation without requiring complex mechanisms. By inserting this single liner component between metal surfaces, the patent effectively eliminates metal-to-metal contact and associated wear, while the added complexity remains minimal and justified by the significant reduction in harmful wear particulates.
3Duration of action of moving object
If a slider assembly is used to maintain compressive load, then the duration of action is extended, but friction and wear increase due to metal-to-metal contact
Solution Approach 1:
The low-friction liner acts as a mediator that enables the slider assembly to function over extended periods without excessive wear. By reducing friction between the compression element and outer tube, the liner allows the slider to maintain compressive load for the required duration while minimizing harmful friction and wear that would otherwise limit the device's operational lifespan.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the friction parameter at the interface between the compression element and outer tube by introducing the low-friction liner. This parameter change reduces the coefficient of friction, thereby extending the duration of compressive load maintenance while reducing wear. The liner material is specifically selected to optimize this friction parameter for prolonged device performance.
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 device effectively brings bones into proximity, generates and sustains compressive load, reduces wear particulate formation, and enhances the operational life of the device by minimizing metal-to-metal contact, ensuring accurate fixation and alignment.
Implementation Method 1
a shape memory material connecting member (e.g., a Nitinol rod) that connects the first slider to the second slider
Implementation Method 2
The first ring and the second ring are composed of a thermoplastic material
Data Source
AI summary
Surgical devices for performing orthopedic surgeries are provided and are capable of generating and applying compression within or across a joint. The surgical devices may include a slider assembly that includes at least one slider configured to move within an outer body. A ring may be disposed about the slider for reducing contact between the slider and the outer body, thereby improving the wear characteristics of the surgical device.