Osteochondral Plug Shaping With Registration-Guided Cutting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems and methods for preparing and delivering osteochondral plugs lack the necessary geometrical precision and complexity to replicate the normal, three-dimensional anatomy of injured or diseased osteochondral tissue, and there is a need for improved systems to create plugs from various materials like autograft, allograft, and synthetic materials.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a cutting guide and cutters to shape osteochondral plugs with enhanced geometrical features, using a trephine and guide sleeve to align and cut tissue grafts, and a delivery device to orient and position the plugs accurately at the recipient site.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional systems and methods are used for preparing osteochondral plugs, then the process is simpler, but the geometrical precision and complexity are insufficient to replicate normal three-dimensional anatomy
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into multiple specialized components including a cutting guide for positioning, a trephine for cylindrical cutting, a contouring tool for surface shaping, and a delivery device for implantation. Each component performs a specific function to achieve cumulative geometrical precision that no single tool could provide alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting guide acts as an intermediary device that interfaces with the tissue graft and guides the cutters. It includes registration features that match the unique anatomy of each graft, serving as a mediator between the surgeon's intent and the precise geometric outcomes required for anatomical replication.
2Shape
If a trephine is used to cut the tissue graft, then cylindrical plugs can be obtained, but the complex three-dimensional anatomy and cartilage surface contour cannot be replicated
Solution Approach 1:
The tissue graft is first harvested with its unique three-dimensional anatomy preserved, then placed into the cutting guide which is customized to match that anatomy. This preliminary positioning and registration enables subsequent cutting tools to replicate the complex geometry accurately without requiring complex real-time adjustments during the cutting process.
Solution Approach 2:
The contouring tool is designed to work in conjunction with the trephine, providing localized surface shaping capabilities. While the trephine creates the basic cylindrical form, the contouring tool adds the specific local geometric features needed to replicate the unique cartilage surface contour and three-dimensional anatomy of the original tissue.
3Manufacturing precision
If the cutting direction is not precisely controlled, then the operation is faster, but the cartilage surface orientation and external wall parallelism cannot be ensured
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting guide includes registration features that automatically align with corresponding features on the tissue graft, self-adjusting to the unique anatomy of each graft. This self-aligning mechanism eliminates the need for time-consuming manual measurement and calculation of cutting angles, while still ensuring precise cartilage surface orientation and external wall parallelism are achieved.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of preparing and/or delivering an osteochondral plug may include, positioning a tissue graft on a cutting guide, wherein the tissue graft may have been removed from a larger body of tissue to define a shaped surface. The tissue graft may include a top surface having a cartilage surface. The method may further include advancing a first cutter along a cutting direction toward the tissue graft to cut the tissue graft to form the osteochondral plug having an external wall parallel to the cutting direction and transverse to the top surface. Positioning the tissue graft on the cutting guide may include placing the shaped surface on a registration surface of the cutting guide. The registration surface may have a reference shape that corresponds to a shape of at least part of the shaped surface.