Knee Positioning Rail Assembly Cleanout Channel Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing knee positioning systems are difficult to effectively clean and sterilize due to the presence of small crevices between the rails and the base, which can harbor contaminants and pathogens, making it challenging to ensure patient safety during orthopedic procedures.
Innovation Solution
A modular rail assembly with a cleanout channel between the rails and the base, allowing for the use of cleaning fluids and brushes to remove contaminants, and featuring limited contact points to reduce crevice formation, enabling easy disassembly for thorough cleaning and sterilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the rails are closely coupled to the base to minimize crevice formation, then the structural stability is improved, but the ability to effectively clean and remove contaminants is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The rail assembly is divided into separable components (rails and base) that can be detached from each other. This segmentation allows the components to be cleaned separately, ensuring that contaminants can be effectively removed from all surfaces without compromising the structural stability when assembled.
Solution Approach 2:
A cleanout channel is introduced as an intermediary feature between the rails and base. This channel provides a dedicated pathway for cleaning fluids and tools to access and remove contaminants from the interface area, resolving the conflict between tight coupling for stability and accessibility for cleaning.
2Ease of operation
If the rails are removably coupled to the base to facilitate cleaning, then the ease of operation is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rail assembly is divided into separable components (rails and base) that can be detached from each other. This segmentation allows the components to be cleaned separately, ensuring that contaminants can be effectively removed from all surfaces without compromising the structural stability when assembled.
3Ease of operation
If the cleanout channel is designed to receive cleaning fluid, then the ease of operation is improved, but the volume of the rail assembly increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cleanout channel is implemented as a localized feature at the interface between the rails and base, rather than a comprehensive redesign of the entire rail assembly. This approach provides the necessary cleaning functionality while minimizing the overall volume increase of the rail assembly.
Data Source
AI summary
A rail assembly for a knee positioning system that includes a base and a pair of rails removably coupled to the base. Each of the rails defines a plurality of positioning slots formed therein, each of the positioning slots being at least partially aligned with a corresponding positioning slot of the other rail. At least one of the rails and the base form at least one cleanout channel therebetween that is configured to receive a cleaning fluid for removing contaminants that collect on the at least one rail and the base.