Patient-Specific Guide Tool for Finger and Toe Joint Repair
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for repairing damaged cartilage and bone in toe and finger joints are invasive and lack precision, often requiring larger implants and not suited for minimally invasive surgery, which can lead to inadequate repair and prolonged recovery.
Innovation Solution
A guide tool with patient-specific contact surfaces and a directing flange for secure placement, allowing for precise positioning and minimally invasive surgery, featuring a design method that incorporates surgical preference data, image data, and demographic parameters to create customized guide tools and implants for each patient.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If current methods for repairing damaged cartilage and bone in toe and finger joints are used, then the repair can be performed, but the surgery is invasive and lacks precision, requiring larger implants and causing prolonged recovery
Solution Approach 1:
Patient-specific contact surfaces are designed and manufactured before surgery based on pre-operative imaging data. These contact surfaces are prepared in advance to match the patient's unique joint anatomy, enabling precise implant positioning without requiring complex intraoperative procedures or specialized surgical skills.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide tool incorporates patient-specific contact surfaces with geometries tailored to the individual patient's joint surface characteristics. This local customization ensures precise fitting and positioning at the specific surgical site, while the rest of the guide tool maintains standard design for ease of manufacture and use.
2Reliability
If larger implants are used to repair joint damage, then the repair can be performed, but tissue interference increases and minimally invasive surgery cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The implant and guide tool are designed with patient-specific contact surfaces that precisely match the damaged joint area. This localized customization allows the implant to be perfectly fitted to the specific defect size and shape, ensuring durable repair while minimizing the implant size and surrounding tissue interference.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the traditional trial-and-error mechanical fitting process with a pre-planned, computer-designed patient-specific contact surface system. This substitution of the mechanical fitting approach with a digitally planned system enables precise positioning of appropriately sized implants, avoiding the need for oversized implants that would increase tissue interference.
3Measurement precision
If standard guide tools are used, then the surgery can be performed, but placement stability and precision are insufficient for small toe and finger joints
Solution Approach 1:
Patient-specific contact surfaces are designed and manufactured before surgery based on pre-operative imaging data. These contact surfaces are prepared in advance to match the patient's unique joint anatomy, enabling precise implant positioning without requiring complex intraoperative procedures or specialized surgical skills.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide tool design incorporates variable parameters based on patient-specific anatomy, including contact surface geometry, curvature, and dimensional characteristics. By adjusting these parameters according to individual patient data, the guide tool achieves optimal fit and positioning precision for each patient's small toe or finger joint while maintaining manufacturability through standardized production processes.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3
AI summary
The present invention relates to a guide tool for guiding surgical instrumentation and facilitating insertion of surgical implants for repair of cartilage and / or bone damage and/or for remodeling of a joint surface for improved mobility in a finger or toe joint wherein said guide comprises; - an attachment part comprising a patient specific contact surface adapted to fit of the proximal phalanxes or metatarsal bones in a toe or the distal-, middle-, or proximal phalanxes or metacarpal bones in a finger and further comprising a directing flange. Further the present invention relates to a design model designing a guide tool according to the invention and to the use of the instruments according to the invention.