Memory Blade Delivery via Compaction for Vertebrae Resection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for accessing and treating cancellous bone within vertebrae, such as during vertebroplasty procedures, face challenges in efficiently delivering and deploying tools due to the soft and weak nature of cancellous bone, which requires precise and minimally invasive techniques to avoid damage and ensure effective stabilization.
Innovation Solution
The use of memory blades preloaded into a hollow sheath, which are compacted to fit within a cannula and then deploy to an expanded state, allowing for the resection and stabilization of vertebrae while minimizing tissue damage and facilitating the removal of debris.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a blade is made larger to improve resection capability, then cutting efficiency increases, but the blade cannot be delivered through the cannula
Solution Approach 1:
The blade is designed to change its configuration dynamically - compacted for delivery through the cannula, then expanded to its full operational size once deployed. This allows the blade to transition between two states: a small deliverable form factor and a large functional form factor, resolving the contradiction between delivery capability and cutting efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The blade is nested within the hollow sheath during delivery, with the sheath acting as a protective carrier that accommodates the compacted blade. After deployment, the blade is released from the sheath to expand to its full size, enabling the nested configuration to solve the delivery-size constraint
2Manufacturing precision
If a memory blade is designed to expand to a larger diameter for effective resection, then cutting performance improves, but the blade cannot pass through the cannula
Solution Approach 1:
The memory blade utilizes shape memory alloy properties to dynamically change its diameter - compacted to a small diameter for insertion through the cannula, then automatically expanding to a larger diameter once deployed to provide effective cutting precision
Solution Approach 2:
The blade's physical parameters (diameter, shape) are changed through the application of thermal or mechanical stimuli that trigger the shape memory alloy to transition between compacted and expanded states, enabling the blade to satisfy both delivery and operational requirements
3Strength
If the blade is made more rigid to improve structural strength, then blade durability increases, but the blade cannot be compacted for delivery
Solution Approach 1:
The blade's rigidity is made dynamic rather than static - the shape memory alloy structure allows the blade to be flexible enough to compact during delivery, then automatically becomes rigid and maintains its shape when deployed, providing both compaction capability and structural strength
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
This method enables precise and effective deployment of resector blades within the vertebrae, providing stabilization and minimizing tissue damage, while allowing for the removal of debris, thus enhancing the efficacy of procedures like vertebroplasty.
Implementation Method 1
a memory blade preloaded into a hollow sheath; said memory tool in some aspects having a blade which is compacted into said hollow sheath
Data Source
AI summary
A device and method of delivering a medical tool which may be a memory resector, cutter, probe, or the like, including a memory blade compacted in a small diameter state which expands in a relaxed memory state is disclosed. Said delivery may include using a hollow sheath to pre-compact or preload a memory blade into a compact position, transferring said compacted memory blade into a cannula, and deploying said memory blade from the distal end of said cannula whereby the memory blade returns to its normal expanded memory state.