Removable Hip Implant Supports for Bone Ingrowth
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current hip prosthetic devices used in revision surgery face challenges such as instability due to bone loss and necrosis, leading to insufficient bone growth and increased risk of dislocation, as they often require direct contact with compromised bone tissue and are not easily customizable for each patient.
Innovation Solution
A hip implant system featuring a body with removably coupled supports that promote bone ingrowth and ongrowth, minimizing micromotion and fretting, allowing for customizable placement without direct contact to the host bone, enhancing stability and reducing the risk of dislocation through a larger insert and biochemical coatings for natural bone formation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If prosthetic devices are designed to maximize approximation of the central body to residual host bone, then bone ongrowth or ingrowth is enabled, but the ability to customize for each patient is limited and fretting occurs at contact surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The implant body is divided into multiple segments with variously positioned openings, cavities, and bores that can accommodate different configurations of supports. This segmentation allows the single prosthetic device design to be adapted to various patient anatomies and bone conditions by selectively positioning supports in different openings, thereby achieving customization without requiring multiple complete device designs.
Solution Approach 2:
The support elements are designed to be removably coupled to the implant body, allowing dynamic reconfiguration of the implant during surgery. Surgeons can select which supports to install and where to position them based on individual patient needs, transforming a static implant design into a dynamically adaptable solution that maximizes both fixation stability and customizability.
2Strength
If prosthetic devices include projections or spacers to create space for acrylic bone cement, then mechanical interlock is achieved, but stability issues persist due to micro- or macro-motion
Solution Approach 1:
The support elements feature porous surfaces that promote bone ingrowth, creating a biological fixation mechanism that is more reliable than mechanical interlock alone. This porous structure allows bone tissue to grow into the implant, providing stable fixation that resists micro- and macro-motion better than cement-based mechanical interlock, while still achieving strong initial fixation.
3Reliability
If implants are meant to be in direct contact with host bone tissue using extensions, supports, or anchors, then fixation is achieved, but stability issues arise under compressive loads especially where bone loss is present
Solution Approach 1:
The support elements extend in multiple dimensions from the implant body, with openings, cavities, and bores positioned at various orientations. This multi-dimensional configuration allows supports to engage bone tissue from different directions, distributing compressive loads more effectively and providing stable fixation even when bone stock is compromised, thereby overcoming the limitations of single-directional anchors.
4Adaptability or versatility
If custom prosthetic devices are made based on computer generated three dimensional CT scan model, then precise patient customization is achieved, but the process takes weeks or even months and incurs very large cost
Solution Approach 1:
The prosthetic device is designed as a universal platform with multiple openings, cavities, and bores that can accommodate various support configurations. This universal design allows the same base implant to be adapted to different patient anatomies and clinical situations through selective support placement, eliminating the need for time-consuming custom manufacturing while still providing patient-specific customization during the surgical procedure.
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 achieves stable fixation and increased long-term success by promoting bone integration, reducing the need for direct bone contact and enabling fast, cost-efficient customization for each patient, thereby improving the lifespan of the prosthetic hip implant.
Implementation Method 1
A first end of the at least one support includes a tapered surface structured to enable a friction fit within one of the plurality of bores
Implementation Method 2
A porous surface of the at least one support promotes bone ingrowth and ongrowth
Data Source
AI summary
A medical implant assembly includes a body and at least one support removably coupled to the body. The body has an outer surface, a cavity defined by an inner surface, a rim surrounding a cavity opening with a plurality of bores extending from the rim to the outer surface and one or more openings extending between the inner surface and the outer surface. The at least one support includes a first end structured to frictionally fit within one of the plurality of bores and an opposing second end positioned away from the body and structured to be secured to a host bone tissue. At least one of: (i) the at least one support; and (ii) the body, are structured to allow or promote at least one of: (i) bone ingrowth; and (ii) bone ongrowth.