Percutaneous Anchor Insertion System for Soft Tissue Fixation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional surgical methods for reattaching detached soft tissue to bone require skin incisions and pre-drilled bone holes, which can be invasive and increase recovery time.
Innovation Solution
A surgical system comprising a cannulated guide, trocar, and pusher allows for percutaneous insertion of deformable anchors into bone without skin incisions or pre-drilled holes, using a trocar to form a bone hole and then inserting a deformable anchor through the guide to secure soft tissue to bone.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional surgical methods are used to reattach soft tissue to bone, then secure fixation can be achieved, but skin incisions and pre-drilled bone holes are required which increase surgical invasiveness and recovery time
Solution Approach 1:
The device is segmented into multiple functional components: a guide needle for creating the bone pathway, a trocar for forming the bone hole, and a separate anchor insertion mechanism. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently while minimizing overall surgical invasiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide needle and trocar are used to pre-establish a precise bone pathway and create the bone hole before anchor insertion. This preliminary action ensures accurate anchor placement without requiring larger incisions or more invasive bone preparation procedures.
2Ease of operation
If skin incisions are made to access the joint space, then soft tissue can be accessed for surgery, but the incisions increase scarring and extend recovery time
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the essential function of accessing bone and soft tissue from traditional open incision methods. By using a percutaneous approach with a guide needle and trocar, the system removes the need for large skin incisions while maintaining the ability to access and treat the soft tissue-bone interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide needle and trocar serve as intermediary tools that bridge the external surgical field and the internal bone-soft tissue interface. These intermediaries enable precise delivery of anchors through minimal puncture sites without requiring direct visual exposure through large incisions.
3Manufacturing precision
If pre-drilled bone holes are created for anchor insertion, then anchors can be securely placed, but the pre-drilling process increases surgical complexity and time
Solution Approach 1:
The guide needle and trocar functions are merged into a coordinated system where the guide needle establishes the pathway and the trocar creates the bone hole in a single integrated procedure. This merging eliminates the need for separate drilling operations while maintaining precise anchor placement.
Solution Approach 2:
The trocar is designed to self-form the bone hole through its sharp tip that penetrates and creates the cavity in one motion. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for separate drilling tools or complex bone preparation procedures, reducing surgical complexity while ensuring precise anchor placement.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method reduces surgical invasiveness, shortens procedure time, minimizes scarring, and enhances recovery by allowing multiple anchor placements without skin incisions or pre-drilled holes, facilitating efficient fixation of soft tissue to bone.
Implementation Method 1
a trocar including a shaft and a distal end section tapering to provide a sharp tip at a distal end of the trocar. The trocar is selectively insertable into the tube and removable from the tube, and, when the trocar is fully inserted into the tube, the sharp tip projects distally of the distal end of the tube.
Implementation Method 2
a pusher selectively insertable into the tube and removable from the tube, and an anchor. The anchor is a deformable sheath and is insertable into bone by being pushed through the tube by the pusher.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure details a surgical system and method, which is permits percutaneous insertion of anchors, and is useful in orthopedic surgical procedures involving fixation of soft tissue to bone. Because the anchors may be inserted percutaneously, the anchors can be inserted into bone without requiring a skin incision and without requiring a pre-drilled bone hole. As such, use of the disclosed system and method leads to a reduction in the number of steps in a surgical procedure, which reduces surgery time, while also reducing the size of openings formed in the skin relative to other known techniques, which reduces recovery times and results in smaller and less noticeable scarring.