Modular Ankle Prosthesis with Interchangeable Bearings
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current total ankle prosthetics face challenges due to small articular surfaces, complex biomechanics, limited access, and regulatory hurdles, leading to post-operative complications like loosening, pain, and wear, with existing devices lacking the ability to adjust for varying patient needs and legal constraints.
Innovation Solution
An ankle implant system with standardized fixation components and a plurality of bearing components that allow surgeons to select the type of prosthesis (semiconstrained or unconstrained) based on patient and legal factors, enabling intraoperative adjustments for optimal fit and function, and accommodating different patient sizes and motion requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a fixed-design ankle prosthesis is used, then manufacturing and regulatory approval are simplified, but the device cannot accommodate varying patient needs and anatomical variations
Solution Approach 1:
The ankle prosthesis is divided into multiple interchangeable components including different bearing components (semiconstrained and unconstrained types), tibial components, and talar components. This segmentation allows surgeons to select and combine specific components based on patient anatomy, activity level, and functional requirements, thereby achieving adaptability without requiring entirely different prosthesis designs for each patient scenario.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular component system creates a universal prosthesis platform that can serve multiple patient needs and functional requirements. The same basic component architecture supports both semiconstrained and unconstrained configurations, allowing a single product line to address diverse clinical indications while maintaining manufacturing efficiency and regulatory approval benefits.
2Stability of the object's composition
If semiconstrained prosthesis with mismatched radii is used, then structural stability is improved, but wear and edge loading increase
Solution Approach 1:
The prosthesis design incorporates dynamic characteristics by allowing controlled motion between components. The bearing components are designed to permit physiological ranges of motion including plantar/dorsiflexion, rotation about the tibial axis, and medial/lateral translation. This dynamic capability enables the joint to adapt to varying loading conditions while maintaining stability through controlled movement rather than rigid constraint.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If unconstrained prosthesis with matched radii is used, then wear is reduced, but post-operative loosening and instability increase
Solution Approach 1:
The design varies key parameters including the degree of constraint, radii matching, and contact surface geometry across different bearing component options. By adjusting these parameters, the system optimizes the balance between wear reduction and fixation reliability for different patient scenarios, allowing matched radii configurations for low-activity patients and mismatched configurations for high-activity patients requiring greater stability.
4Adaptability or versatility
If custom-designed prostheses are created for each patient scenario, then optimal fit and function are achieved, but manufacturing cost and regulatory approval burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The ankle prosthesis is divided into multiple interchangeable components including different bearing components (semiconstrained and unconstrained types), tibial components, and talar components. This segmentation allows surgeons to select and combine specific components based on patient anatomy, activity level, and functional requirements, thereby achieving adaptability without requiring entirely different prosthesis designs for each patient scenario.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular component system creates a universal prosthesis platform that can serve multiple patient needs and functional requirements. The same basic component architecture supports both semiconstrained and unconstrained configurations, allowing a single product line to address diverse clinical indications while maintaining manufacturing efficiency and regulatory approval benefits.
Data Source
AI summary
Ankle implant systems and methods are provided that can allow a surgeon to select the type of prosthesis desired during an ankle surgical operation. The surgeon can implant a set of standardized fixation components into the tibia and/or fibula bones and the talus bone. Once implanted, the surgeon can select a bearing component from a number of bearing components that allow for different size patients, but also modify the manner in which the prosthesis functions (either semiconstrained or unconstrained). In one embodiment, an ankle implant can include a talar component having a lower surface with a bone fixation portion for fixation to a talus bone. A tibial component has an upper surface with a bone fixation portion for fixation of the tibial component to a tibia bone and/or a fibula bone, and the tibial component also has a lower surface with at least one protrusion extending from the lower surface. A bearing component is included between the tibial and talar components and has a lower surface for cooperative engagement with an upper surface of the talar component. The protrusion of the tibial component is adapted to engage a recess of the bearing component to desirably limit rotational and translational movement of the tibial component relative to the bearing component.