Joint Energy Absorbing Device for Osteoarthritis Pain Relief
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current treatments for osteoarthritis, such as joint replacement and external devices, fail to effectively address joint movement and varying loads, leading to inadequate pain relief and limited energy absorption, as they do not account for the dynamic functions of natural joints and often require invasive procedures with long recovery times.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for implanting an energy absorbing device at a joint using positioning instruments that include reference markers and a verification tool to ensure precise placement, allowing for energy absorption and transfer while maintaining joint mobility, comprising contoured bases and springs that absorb and distribute load across the joint.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If joint replacement or external devices are used to treat osteoarthritis, then pain relief is provided, but the treatments are highly invasive and require substantial recovery periods
Solution Approach 1:
The joint is divided into compartments, and the energy absorbing system is applied selectively to specific compartments rather than replacing the entire joint. This allows targeted treatment of affected areas while preserving healthy joint structures, reducing invasiveness and recovery time.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the mechanical parameters of the joint by introducing energy absorbing elements that modify load distribution and force transmission. This alters the joint's energy absorption characteristics without requiring complete joint replacement, providing pain relief with minimal invasiveness.
2Reliability
If traditional arthroplasty procedures are performed to replace joint surfaces, then joint function is restored, but chondrocytes are removed and the procedure is not chondro-protective
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts only the problematic joint surfaces that require replacement while preserving the chondrocytes and healthy cartilage in other compartments. This selective approach restores joint function in affected areas without removing beneficial cartilage cells from unaffected areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention converts the harmful effect of joint surface damage into a benefit by using the space created by selective surface removal to insert energy absorbing elements. These elements redistribute loads to protect remaining chondrocytes, turning the surgical intervention into a chondro-protective measure.
3Manufacturing precision
If high tibial osteotomy is performed to realign the joint, then mechanical alignment is improved, but ligamentous instability is not addressed and results deteriorate over time
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the alignment correction function of osteotomy with the ligamentous support function of the energy absorbing system. The energy absorbing elements provide both mechanical alignment improvement and ligamentous stability, addressing both issues simultaneously rather than treating alignment alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The energy absorbing system uses composite structures that combine rigid alignment-maintaining components with compliant ligamentous support elements. This composite approach provides both precise alignment and dynamic ligamentous stability, preventing the result deterioration seen with alignment-only procedures.
4Reliability
If external braces or fixators are used to control joint motion and shift loads, then pain is alleviated by reducing loads on diseased joints, but patient compliance is poor and the devices cannot facilitate natural motion
Solution Approach 1:
The energy absorbing system acts as an intermediary between the diseased joint surfaces, internally positioned to directly manage load transmission. This internal mediator facilitates natural joint motion while controlling forces on diseased surfaces, eliminating the need for external braces that restrict movement and require compliance.
Solution Approach 2:
The implanted energy absorbing system automatically adjusts to and facilitates natural joint motion without requiring patient compliance or external control. The device self-regulates load distribution during movement, providing continuous pain relief and natural motion facilitation without patient intervention.
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 solution enables effective pain relief by absorbing a portion of the joint's energy, reducing load on diseased areas, and maintaining the range of motion, thereby addressing the limitations of existing treatments by providing a minimally invasive, compliant energy absorption system that complements the anatomy of the joint.
Implementation Method 1
an absorber having a spring value of about twenty pounds
Implementation Method 2
absorb and store, as well as to dissipate energy
Implementation Method 3
a viscous fluid filled capsule
Data Source
AI summary
Positioning instruments and related methods are described for implanting an energy absorbing system for treating joints. The positioning instruments and methods allow the energy absorbing system to be positioned at a joint such that the desired motion will occur for the particular design of a particular energy absorbing system which is to be implanted. The positioning instruments include a locating instrument for locating an anatomical feature and a target location for implantation of the energy absorbing system, a verification instrument for verification of the target location, a placement guide for guiding placement of a part of the energy absorbing system, and positioning device for aligning portions of the energy absorbing system.