Modular Surgical Guide Locator for Fluoroscopy-Free Bone Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Total joint replacement surgeries face challenges with misalignment of prostheses due to inaccurate bone resections, leading to discomfort and degradation, and the use of intra-operative fluoroscopy prolongs surgery time and exposes patients to ionizing radiation.
Innovation Solution
A modular guide system comprising a guide locator with a conformal surface and a guide element, along with a retention mechanism, that allows precise bone resections without fluoroscopy, using patient-specific anatomical data for alignment and incorporating corner protectors to stabilize cutting tools.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If intra-operative fluoroscopy is used to check alignment, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time increases and harmful factors increase
Solution Approach 1:
The guide locator and guide element are designed with pre-integrated alignment features and conformal surfaces that establish precise alignment before the surgical procedure begins. The modular guide system provides built-in alignment references that eliminate the need for intra-operative fluoroscopy to verify positioning, allowing surgeons to proceed directly with bone resection with confidence in alignment accuracy.
2Measurement precision
If intra-operative fluoroscopy is used to check alignment, then measurement precision is improved, but harmful factors increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the alignment verification function from the fluoroscopy system and integrates it directly into the mechanical guide structure. The guide locator's conformal surface and the guide element's geometric features provide tactile and visual alignment confirmation without requiring radiation-based imaging, completely eliminating radiation exposure while maintaining alignment precision.
3Manufacturing precision
If modular guide system is used, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide system is divided into modular components: a guide locator that interfaces with the bone surface and a separate guide element that contains the cutting guide features. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently for its specific function while maintaining overall system precision. The modular design also simplifies sterilization and storage compared to a monolithic structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide locator is designed with a universal conformal surface that can adapt to various bone geometries, while the guide element can be configured for different cutting angles and orientations. This multi-functionality allows a single base component to serve multiple surgical scenarios, reducing the need for entirely different guide systems for each procedure variation.
Data Source
AI summary
A medical device has a guide locator and a guide element. The guide locator has a mount body having a conformal surface that is shaped to be complementary to a natural anatomical surface of a patient bone and defining a mount receptacle. The mount body defines a guide receptacle. The guide element includes a guide body having a shape configured to fit with to attach the guide receptacle of the guide locator and a guide slot formed in the guide body. The guide slot includes at least one opening for receiving a tool therethrough. A retention mechanism is configured to hold the guide element within the guide receptacle of the guide locator.