Virtual Patient-Specific Bone Plates for Asymmetric Anatomy

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing orthopedic solutions fail to accurately reconstruct deformed or shattered anatomies due to naturally occurring asymmetry, leading to inaccurate mirrorings of healthy anatomy during surgeries.

Innovation Solution

A system and method utilizing anatomical images to create virtual 3D tissue models, followed by generating molds and devices for reconstructive surgery, including multi-resolution registration processes to align and match anatomical features across a population, enabling precise patient-specific implants and surgical guides.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If mirror imaging of healthy anatomy is used to reconstruct deformed or shattered anatomies, then the surgical procedure can be simplified, but the reconstruction accuracy deteriorates due to naturally occurring asymmetry

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesurgical procedure simplicityVSAvoidreconstruction accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies asymmetry by creating patient-specific implants that account for natural anatomical asymmetries rather than assuming symmetry. The system captures the actual geometry of the patient's healthy anatomy through imaging and creates a customized implant that mirrors the specific asymmetric features of that patient's anatomy, thereby maintaining both surgical simplicity and reconstruction accuracy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #4Asymmetry

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses copying by creating a digital 3D model of the patient's healthy anatomy from medical images, then generating a virtual implant that copies the specific geometric features of the patient's own anatomy. This digital copy serves as the basis for manufacturing a physical implant that accurately reproduces the patient's unique asymmetric anatomy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

2Manufacturing precision

If patient-specific implants are generated through multi-resolution registration and 3D modeling, then reconstruction accuracy is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvereconstruction accuracyVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies segmentation by dividing the complex task of implant generation into distinct modular steps: image acquisition, 3D model generation, multi-resolution registration, virtual implant design, and manufacturing. Each step produces a specific output that becomes the input for the next step, making the overall complex process more manageable and systematic.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses preliminary action by performing all planning, modeling, and design work before the actual surgery. The multi-resolution registration and virtual implant generation are completed in advance, allowing the surgical team to review and approve the design before entering the operating room, thereby simplifying the actual surgical procedure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Measurement precision

If multi-resolution registration processes are used to align anatomical features across a population, then the precision of anatomical matching is improved, but the processing time and computational resources increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveanatomical feature matching precisionVSAvoidprocessing time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The multi-resolution registration process is segmented into multiple passes at different levels of detail. The system first performs coarse alignment at a lower resolution to establish initial correspondence, then progressively refines the alignment at higher resolutions. This segmented approach achieves high precision without requiring all computational resources simultaneously, thereby reducing overall processing time.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies partial action by performing registration at multiple resolution levels rather than attempting single-pass high-resolution registration. The process performs sufficient registration at each level to achieve the required precision, stopping at the appropriate resolution rather than exhaustively processing all details, thereby optimizing the balance between precision and processing time.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentEP4159150B1Method of generating a virtual patient-specific bone plate
Publication Date: 2025.09.24 MAHFOUZ MOHAMED R
  • EP4159150B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP4159150B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4
  • EP4159150B1 patent drawingFigure 5

AI summary

A method of generating a patient-specific virtual model of a trauma plate for a particular bone, the method comprising: accessing a bone atlas comprising a plurality of three dimensional bone models of a particular bone; obtaining a plurality of virtual 3D bone component part surface representations of a respective plurality of bone component parts of a bone; virtually repositioning one or more of the plurality of virtual 3D bone component part surface representations to form a patient-specific virtual 3D patchwork bone model; selecting a virtual 3D bone plate template most closely conforming to the virtual 3D patchwork bone model from among a plurality of 3D virtual bone plate templates; virtually positioning the selected virtual 3D bone plate template onto the virtual 3D patchwork bone model; and creating a virtual 3D patient-specific bone plate by deforming the selected virtual 3D bone plate template to conform to the virtual 3D patchwork bone model.