Patient-Specific Surgical Guide for Bone Cutting Depth Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bone cutting procedures in ankle replacement surgeries lack precise control over cutting depth, requiring tactile feedback and concentration to avoid damaging adjacent tissue.
Innovation Solution
A patient-specific cutting guide that matches the patient's bone contour, providing depth control through complementary surfaces and apertures to guide cutting tools, ensuring accurate cuts without excessive depth.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional bone cutting procedures are used without a guide, then the surgeon has flexibility in operation, but cutting depth precision deteriorates and tissue damage risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a surgical guide as an intermediary device between the surgeon and the bone. The guide includes a body with a bone-contacting surface that conforms to the bone surface, and an aperture that receives the cutting tool. This intermediary structure provides the necessary depth control and positioning without requiring complex active control systems, thereby improving cutting precision while maintaining operational simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The surgical guide body is designed with a bone-contacting surface that is complementary to the contour of the bone surface. This copying approach allows the guide to conform precisely to the patient's specific bone anatomy, enabling accurate depth control that matches the varying bone depth at different locations without requiring complex measurement and calculation systems during surgery.
2Productivity
If tactile feedback and concentration are required for blind depth cutting, then surgeon control is maintained, but surgical time and risk of error increase
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical guide is prepared in advance with a bone-contacting surface that is specifically contoured to match the patient's bone anatomy. The aperture is positioned and sized to provide the exact depth control needed for the specific surgical site. This preliminary customization eliminates the need for intraoperative depth calculations and tactile feedback, improving both surgical efficiency and reliability.
3Manufacturing precision
If a universal cutting guide is used, then device simplicity is maintained, but patient-specific depth accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical guide is designed with a bone-contacting surface that has local quality matching the specific patient's bone contour at the surgical site. Rather than using a universal flat surface, the guide's surface is contoured to conform to the varying geometry of the patient's bone, enabling precise depth control that is specific to that patient's anatomy while still using a single guide structure.
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.