Percutaneous Posterior Implant Slide for Vertebral Distraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical tools for implanting vertebral implants often cause tissue impingement and damage due to the size of dilators used, which can lead to increased trauma during the procedure.
Innovation Solution
An implant insertion tool system comprising a guide instrument with a flexible slide and tongue mechanism that allows for the expansion of a center channel to accommodate implants, minimizing tissue trauma while maintaining a small incision, and facilitating vertebral distraction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If larger dilators are used to create the path for implant insertion, then the implant can be delivered to the vertebral space, but tissue impingement and damage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The guide instrument incorporates a flexible slide that can dynamically expand perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the channel, allowing the guide to adapt its cross-sectional dimensions to accommodate the implant while maintaining a small longitudinal profile for minimal tissue disruption
Solution Approach 2:
The guide instrument is divided into a rigid body portion and a flexible slide portion, allowing independent functions: the rigid body maintains the channel path through tissue, while the flexible slide expands only when needed to accommodate the implant, minimizing overall tissue disruption
2Adaptability or versatility
If the guide instrument expands to accommodate the implant, then the implant can pass through, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible slide acts as a thin, flexible enclosure that can be inserted in a collapsed state and then expanded perpendicular to the channel axis to accommodate the implant, providing adaptability without significant structural complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible slide serves as an intermediary element between the rigid guide body and the implant, allowing the implant to pass through by expanding the guide's internal volume without requiring the entire guide structure to be complex
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 system effectively reduces tissue impingement and damage by allowing for the expansion of the guide instrument to accommodate implants, maintaining a small incision and enabling vertebral distraction, thus enhancing the safety and efficiency of implant delivery.
Implementation Method 1
the implant can cause the slide disposed in the channel to flex in a direction perpendicular to an axis of the channel. A longitudinal location of the slide with respect to the channel can be maintained via a tongue of the slide engaging a groove defined in the channel
Data Source
AI summary
An implant insertion instrument provides a guide through tissue (skin, fascia, musculature) and into a vertebral space after a discectomy. The instrument slides onto a guide wire and defines a path for the implant to be delivered to the vertebral space. The guide expands laterally as required to accommodate the implant as the implant slides through a channel defined in the guide, which allows distraction of the vertebral bodies while maintaining a small incision in the patient.