Unicompartmental Knee Implant Fixation for Ligament-Preserving Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing knee surgery procedures, such as total knee arthroplasty, often result in the removal of cruciate ligaments, leading to compromised post-operative outcomes and prolonged recovery times, while unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) aims to preserve these ligaments but lacks effective implant systems for stable and reliable reconstruction.
Innovation Solution
The development of a surgical implant system featuring a tray with angled posts and a fastener system for secure fixation, combined with mobile and fixed articular components, allowing for relative movement and integration with the femur, facilitating osteoinductive properties and enabling biologic osseous ingrowth.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If total knee arthroplasty is performed, then the knee joint can be replaced, but the cruciate ligaments are removed leading to compromised post-operative outcomes
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes only the damaged compartment surfaces while preserving the healthy cruciate ligaments and other compartments, rather than removing the entire joint as in TKA. This selective extraction approach maintains the beneficial ligamentous structures while addressing the pathological area.
Solution Approach 2:
The knee joint is segmented into separate compartments (medial, lateral, patellofemoral), and the implant treats only the affected compartment individually. This segmentation allows preservation of healthy compartments and ligaments while reconstructing only the damaged area.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If unicompartmental knee arthroplasty is performed, then the cruciate ligaments are preserved, but the implant system lacks stable and reliable reconstruction capability
Solution Approach 1:
The implant combines multiple functional elements into a unified system: the tray provides structural support and alignment, the posts extend into the bone for anchorage, and the articular components provide joint surface reconstruction. This merging of elements creates a stable reconstruction that preserves ligaments.
Solution Approach 2:
The implant utilizes composite construction with the tray, posts, and articular components made from appropriate materials that provide both structural integrity for stability and biocompatibility for ligament preservation. The composite structure enables simultaneous achievement of stability and biological integration.
3Ease of operation
If traditional knee arthroplasty is performed, then the joint function is restored, but bone structure is extensively removed
Solution Approach 1:
The implant extracts and removes only the minimal necessary bone and cartilage from the affected compartment to accommodate the prosthetic components, preserving the maximum amount of healthy bone structure in other compartments and the cruciate ligaments.
Solution Approach 2:
The reconstruction applies local treatment only to the damaged compartment with specific implant components positioned precisely in the affected area, while leaving the quality and integrity of healthy bone and ligament structures unchanged in other regions.
4Loss of time
If unicompartmental knee arthroplasty is performed, then recovery is expedited, but effective implant systems for stable reconstruction are lacking
Solution Approach 1:
The implant merges structural stability features (tray with bone-anchoring posts) with articular reconstruction components in a single integrated system, providing both immediate stability for early mobilization and long-term reconstruction durability for sustained function.
Solution Approach 2:
The implant design incorporates pre-configured alignment features and stable fixation mechanisms that are prepared in advance, allowing the surgeon to achieve stable reconstruction quickly during surgery, which facilitates earlier post-operative recovery and rehabilitation.
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical implant can include a femoral component including an outer surface and an inner surface opposite the outer surface. The femoral component can include a first post extending from the inner surface, the first post defining a first opening extending along an axis through the first post. The femoral component can include a second post extending from the inner surface, the second post defining a second opening extending along the axis through the second post. The surgical implant can include a fastener removably coupled to the first post and the second post, the fastener to extend through the first opening and the second opening.