Patient-Adapted Hip Implants via Preoperative Digital Planning

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Solution Overview

Problem

Traditional off-the-shelf hip joint implants often mismatch a patient's biological features, leading to complications such as pain, discomfort, and increased risk of implant failure due to the need for excessive bone removal during surgery.

Innovation Solution

A patient-adapted acetabular implant system is developed, utilizing image data to create customized features like locking mechanisms, screw holes, and radii, and surgical tools with 3D guidance to optimize bone cuts and implant design for a precise anatomical fit, minimizing bone removal and enhancing surgical precision.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of manufacture

If standard off-the-shelf implants are used, then manufacturing cost and availability are improved, but anatomical mismatch and implant failure risk increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemanufacturing cost and availabilityVSAvoidimplant failure risk
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

Patient-specific planning and customization are performed before surgery using preoperative imaging (CT/MRI) to create a digital model of the patient's anatomy. This allows the implant design to be tailored to the patient's specific bone geometry and joint alignment requirements, ensuring optimal anatomical match while avoiding intraoperative bone removal and positioning errors that could lead to implant failure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The implant design incorporates patient-specific anatomical features at critical locations such as the acetabular cup orientation, femoral stem geometry, and bone contact surfaces. By customizing only the necessary anatomical parameters based on preoperative data rather than creating entirely custom implants, the solution achieves local quality matching where it matters most while maintaining cost-effectiveness.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Ease of operation

If excessive bone removal is performed to accommodate standard implants, then implant installation is facilitated, but bone stock loss and surgical complications increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveimplant installationVSAvoidbone stock loss
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSLoss of substance

Solution Approach 1:

Preoperative imaging and digital planning allow precise determination of the required bone resection amount and location before surgery. The patient-specific implant design is based on the pre-planned bone cuts, ensuring that only the minimum necessary bone is removed to accommodate the implant, thereby preserving bone stock while facilitating smooth implant installation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces traditional trial-and-error mechanical fitting during surgery with computer-aided design and digital simulation. The implant geometry is virtually tested against the patient's anatomy in advance, allowing optimization of bone resection parameters and implant positioning without requiring excessive bone removal during the actual surgical procedure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Manufacturing precision

If patient-adapted implants with customized features are created, then anatomical precision and implant longevity are improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveanatomical matching precisionVSAvoidmanufacturing complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patient-specific implant is created by modifying key anatomical parameters (such as acetabular cup angle, femoral stem curvature, and bone contact surface geometry) based on the patient's preoperative imaging data. This approach maintains the overall modular structure and manufacturing processes of standard implants while customizing only the critical dimensional parameters, thereby achieving high anatomical precision without excessive manufacturing complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

Customization is applied selectively to specific regions and parameters of the implant that directly affect anatomical matching and surgical outcomes, such as the acetabular component orientation and femoral stem geometry. Other non-critical portions of the implant can be produced using standardized components, reducing overall manufacturing complexity while maintaining precision where it matters most.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

4Device complexity

If traditional surgical procedures are used, then surgical protocol simplicity is maintained, but surgical time and complication rate increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesurgical protocol simplicityVSAvoidsurgical time
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

All complex planning, measurement, and implant design work is completed before surgery using preoperative imaging and computer simulation. The surgical team receives a detailed preoperative plan including exact implant sizes, positions, and orientation parameters. During surgery, this translates to straightforward execution of pre-determined steps, reducing surgical time and eliminating intraoperative decision-making delays while maintaining protocol simplicity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces complex intraoperative measurement and trial-fitting procedures with preoperative digital planning and navigation systems. This substitution reduces the time required for surgical steps such as determining implant orientation and positioning, while the standardized surgical workflow based on pre-planned parameters maintains procedural simplicity for the surgical team.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Data Source

PatentEP2976045B1Systems, methods of making, and devices related to patient-adapted hip joint implants
Publication Date: 2021.06.23 CONFORMIS INC
  • EP2976045B1 patent drawingFigure 2A~4
  • EP2976045B1 patent drawingFigure 9~10
  • EP2976045B1 patent drawingFigure 11A~12B

AI summary

Implants, trial implants, and systems for treatment of a hip-joint of a patient are disclosed, as well as methods of making and using such implants, trial implants, and systems. Various embodiments include patient-adapted acetabular implants and/or trial implants.