Pneumatic Surgical Instrument Shockwave Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for installing, removing, or adjusting orthopedic implants, such as artificial hip and shoulder joints, face challenges including variable and uncontrolled force delivery, locational inaccuracy, and inconsistency among physicians due to the use of hammers.
Innovation Solution
A pneumatic surgical instrument, named OrthoShock, which utilizes a piston striker and a removable probe to deliver precise and repeatable shockwaves to orthopedic implants, allowing for controlled and accurate force application, with a gas cartridge providing medical-grade CO2 pressure and a trigger mechanism for actuation, enabling efficient implantation, extraction, or reorientation of orthopedic devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If a hammer is used to deliver impulse forces to orthopedic implants, then the implant can be installed, extracted, or reoriented, but the force delivery is variable and uncontrolled
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical hammer system with a pneumatic system that uses compressed gas to drive a piston, which in turn drives an impactor. This substitution transforms the uncontrolled manual striking mechanism into a controlled pneumatic system capable of delivering consistent, repeatable impulse forces to the implant.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of force delivery by using a pneumatic system with adjustable pressure settings. The compressed gas pressure, piston mass, and impactor geometry can be precisely controlled and adjusted to deliver specific impulse forces, transforming the variable manual force into a controllable parameterized system.
2Ease of operation
If a hammer is used to strike orthopedic implants, then implant installation or extraction can be performed, but locational inaccuracy occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary impactor device that serves as a precise interface between the pneumatic system and the implant. The impactor is specifically designed to engage with the implant at predetermined locations, ensuring accurate force application points while maintaining ease of operation for the surgeon.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the force delivery system into distinct functional components: the pneumatic power source, the piston mechanism, the impactor with specific engagement features, and the implant itself. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, particularly the impactor's engagement features that ensure precise location accuracy.
3Adaptability or versatility
If different physicians use hammers to apply force to implants, then various implant procedures can be performed, but inconsistent force amounts are applied
Solution Approach 1:
The pneumatic system is designed to be self-regulating and self-consistent, eliminating reliance on individual physician skill and variability. The system automatically delivers consistent impulse forces through its engineered pneumatic mechanism, compressed gas pressure regulation, and standardized impactor design, ensuring reliability across different users and procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal pneumatic impactor system that can perform multiple implant procedures (installation, extraction, reorientation) through a single standardized platform. The system's versatility is achieved while maintaining force consistency through its standardized pneumatic mechanism and interchangeable impactor attachments designed for different procedural needs.
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
The pneumatic surgical instrument provides a consistent and controlled delivery of shockwaves with significantly shorter rise times compared to conventional hammers, enhancing the ease and precision of orthopedic implant procedures, improving the installation, extraction, and reorientation of artificial joints by transferring energy efficiently and accurately.
Implementation Method 1
a predetermined volume of gas stored at a predetermined range of pressures in the pneumatic surgical instrument is released to cause the striker to move towards a distal end of the pneumatic surgical instrument and deliver a shockwave
Implementation Method 2
deliver a shockwave to the proximal end of the probe and through the impactor such that the orthopedic implant can be driven at least partially into a void or hole formed in the patient's bone
Data Source
Figure 1(a)
Figure 1(b)~1(c)
Figure 1(d)
AI summary
Various embodiments of components, devices, systems and methods are provided for a pneumatic surgical instrument having a probe or an impactor disposed at a distal end thereof and configured to make contact with a selected portion of an orthopedic implant or device and drive the implant into a hole or void formed in a patient's bone. The instrument is configured to generate a shock wave, which is then transferred to the distal end of the probe or impactor, and thence into the orthopedic implant, thereby causing the implant to be driven into contact with portions of the void or hole.