Patient-Specific Dental Guide for Mandibular Foramen Anesthesia
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current dental anesthesia methods face challenges due to variability in nerve and foramen locations, leading to inaccurate injections, multiple injections, tissue damage, and adverse effects such as numbness and tingling, particularly when targeting the inferior alveolar nerve in the mandibular foramen.
Innovation Solution
A dental guide is designed using image data from CT and optical scans to accurately position a needle for anesthetic delivery, leveraging fixed hubs and contoured portions for precise placement on teeth, with a needle support and elongate member to guide the needle to the mandibular foramen or mandibular condyle, utilizing additive manufacturing for customization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional blind needle insertion method is used to reach the mandibular foramen, then the procedure can be performed without specialized equipment, but the injection accuracy is poor and multiple injections are required
Solution Approach 1:
The dental guide is fabricated before the anesthesia procedure using patient-specific imaging data (CBCT or intraoral scans). The guide incorporates a contoured portion that receives anatomical landmarks (teeth or gingiva) and pre-defines the injection path to the mandibular foramen, eliminating the need for blind needle insertion during the procedure.
Solution Approach 2:
The dental guide acts as an intermediary device between the clinician and the patient's anatomy. It includes a contoured portion that interfaces with anatomical landmarks and a needle support structure that guides the needle along a pre-calculated path to the mandibular foramen, ensuring accurate anesthetic delivery.
2Reliability
If multiple injections are administered to ensure adequate anesthesia coverage, then the anesthetic coverage area is increased, but tissue damage and adverse effects increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the mechanical trial-and-error approach of multiple blind injections with a computational approach. Patient-specific imaging data is used to virtually plan the injection path, and the dental guide translates this virtual plan into precise physical needle placement, ensuring the needle reaches the mandibular foramen on the first attempt.
Solution Approach 2:
The injection path is pre-planned using imaging data before the procedure. The dental guide incorporates this pre-planned path through its needle support structure, allowing the clinician to follow a predetermined accurate route to the mandibular foramen without needing to adjust needle position during the procedure.
3Ease of manufacture
If a standardized dental guide is used for all patients, then the device can be mass-produced with simple manufacturing, but the guide cannot accommodate variability in nerve and foramen locations
Solution Approach 1:
The dental guide is customized for each patient based on their specific anatomy obtained from imaging data. The contoured portion is designed to receive that patient's specific teeth or gingival landmarks, and the needle support is angled to match their specific foramen location, ensuring optimal performance for individual anatomical variations.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the geometric parameters of the dental guide based on patient-specific imaging data. The contoured portion's shape, size, and orientation are adjusted to match the patient's anatomy, and the needle support's angle and position are modified to accurately target their specific mandibular foramen location.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatuses, methods of use, and methods of manufacture are described herein for a dental guide. The dental guide may include an elongate member defining a first end and a second end, a needle support proximate the first end, the needle support defining an aperture structured to receive a needle, and a fixed hub proximate the second end.