Patient-Specific Surgical Guide With Aperture-Based Depth Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bone cutting procedures in ankle replacement surgeries lack precise depth control, requiring tactile feedback and concentration to avoid damaging adjacent tissue, especially in bones with varying depths.
Innovation Solution
A patient-specific cutting guide is developed with complementary bone-contacting surfaces and apertures that provide patient-specific depth information, guiding cutting tools to match the bone's contour, ensuring controlled cuts without excessive depth.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional bone cutting procedures are used without depth control mechanisms, then the surgical procedure can be performed with simpler equipment, but the precision of cutting depth is insufficient and risk of tissue damage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide is fabricated before surgery with pre-determined aperture depths based on patient-specific bone anatomy from CT scans. The varying depths are built into the guide structure in advance, allowing precise depth control during surgery without complex real-time adjustment mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide features apertures with different depths at different locations to match the varying bone depth at each cutting site. Each aperture is customized with the specific depth required for that anatomical location, providing locally optimized precision without requiring the entire guide to be complex.
2Reliability
If tactile feedback and concentration are required to control cutting depth, then simpler equipment can be used, but the reliability of the procedure decreases due to human error
Solution Approach 1:
The guide acts as an intermediary physical barrier that prevents the cutting tool from exceeding the predetermined depth. The aperture structure mechanically limits tool insertion depth, replacing the need for surgeon judgment and tactile feedback with an objective physical constraint.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide structure itself provides the depth control function through its pre-fabricated aperture geometry. The guide self-regulates the cutting depth without requiring external control mechanisms or active surgeon intervention, making the procedure more reliable and easier to perform.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a single-depth guide is used for bones with varying depths, then the guide structure can be simpler, but the adaptability to patient-specific anatomy is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The guide is designed with apertures that have different depths at different locations, each matched to the specific bone depth at that anatomical site. This local customization allows the single guide structure to adapt to the varying three-dimensional anatomy of the patient's bone without requiring multiple guides.
Solution Approach 2:
Patient-specific CT scans are used to pre-determine the optimal cutting depth at multiple locations before surgery. This preliminary analysis allows the guide to be fabricated with the exact varying depths needed for that patient's anatomy, achieving high adaptability through advance planning rather than complex intraoperative adjustment.
Data Source
AI summary
A guide for use in cutting a bone is disclosed. The guide includes a bone contacting surface contoured to conformably mate with a first bone surface when placed against the first bone surface, and a guide surface that is spaced apart from the bone contacting surface. At least one prescribed patient-specific depth of cut information is provided on the guide surface that corresponds to the desired depth of cut being made using the guide.