Polyaxial Bone Plate Locking Ring with Tactile Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bone plates for spinal stabilization face challenges such as excessive stress on bones due to screw tightening, risk of screw backout, and complexity in surgical installation, particularly due to small and delicate anti-backout mechanisms that can be lost or difficult to engage.
Innovation Solution
The development of polyaxial bone plates with a locking mechanism that includes a lock with a noncircular head element and a locking ring, allowing for secure attachment with minimal moving parts, easy installation, and tactile feedback during rotation, preventing screw backout without requiring specialized tools.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional anti-backout mechanisms are used, then screw backout is prevented, but the mechanisms are small and delicate, can be broken during installation or lost by the surgeon within the surgical wound
Solution Approach 1:
The locking ring integrates multiple functions into a single component: it prevents screw backout through its positioning relative to the bone plate, provides tactile feedback through its interaction with the driver, and eliminates the need for separate delicate anti-backout mechanisms. The locking ring works in conjunction with the noncircular head element to create a unified locking system that is both reliable and simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts and eliminates the separate anti-backout mechanism from the system, replacing it with the locking ring that performs the backout prevention function inherently through its design and positioning, rather than requiring additional delicate components.
2Reliability
If conventional bone plates with multiple small parts are used, then screw backout is prevented, but parts can be lost or broken during installation
Solution Approach 1:
The locking ring combines multiple functions into one component, reducing the number of parts that need to be handled during surgery. The noncircular head element and locking ring work together as an integrated system that is easier to install and less prone to losing individual components.
3Adaptability or versatility
If polyaxial configuration is implemented, then better bone contact and flexibility are achieved, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The noncircular head element of the locking ring provides asymmetric geometry that enables polyaxial configuration. The asymmetric shape allows the locking ring to engage with the bone plate at multiple angles while maintaining a secure lock, providing flexibility without requiring multiple separate components for different orientations.
Data Source
AI summary
A bone plate and one or more locking assemblies that help prevent screw backout without impinging on therapeutically valuable settling of the screws. In some cases, the locking assembly is configured to be attached to the plate, to be securely but efficiently locked, to be readily unlocked for revision surgery, and/or to reduce the possibility of operator error in installation by providing simplified visible and tactile indicia of the locked and unlocked positions.