Resorbable Material-Activated Mechanism for Pectus Excavatum Correction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for correcting pectus excavatum, such as the Ravitch and Nuss procedures, involve invasive and painful instantaneous corrections, requiring additional surgeries and significant tissue manipulation, which can lead to instability and limited lung expansion.
Innovation Solution
A bioresorbable material-activated mechanism that stores energy through compliant segments, using resorbable materials to restrain the mechanism in a configured state, allowing it to self-actuate gradually or instantaneously upon dissolution in bodily fluids, mimicking the Nuss procedure while providing customizable correction without additional surgical input.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If instantaneous correction methods (Ravitch or Nuss procedures) are used, then the pectus excavatum is corrected quickly, but the procedure is invasive and painful requiring additional surgeries
Solution Approach 1:
The bar is pre-loaded with stored energy during implantation in a deformed state, and the resorbable blocks are placed to maintain this deformed state. As the blocks gradually resorb over time, the bar automatically transitions to its corrected shape without requiring additional surgical procedures. This preliminary preparation of the bar in a deformed state with built-in correction mechanism resolves the contradiction by enabling gradual correction without repeated invasive surgeries.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanism uses the body's natural environment (bodily fluids) to resorb the material blocks, which automatically triggers the correction process. The bar self-actuates as the blocks dissolve, eliminating the need for external activation or additional surgical interventions. This self-service mechanism reduces invasiveness while maintaining correction speed through the gradual resorption process.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If gradual correction is implemented, then pain is reduced, but additional surgeries are needed to actuate the mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
The resorbable blocks automatically dissolve in the body's natural environment over time, triggering the gradual correction process without requiring external activation. This eliminates the need for additional surgical procedures to actuate the mechanism, as the blocks' natural resorption serves as the activation mechanism. The solution reduces both pain through gradual correction and device complexity by eliminating repeated surgeries.
Solution Approach 2:
The resorbable blocks change their material properties over time as they gradually resorb in the body, transitioning from a solid restraining state to a dissolved state. This parameter change in the blocks' physical state automatically drives the bar's shape transformation, providing gradual correction without additional surgical intervention. The time-dependent material transformation resolves the contradiction between gradual correction and surgical complexity.
3Extent of automation
If resorbable materials are used to restrain the mechanism, then activation requires no user input, but the correction rate is difficult to control
Solution Approach 1:
Different resorbable materials with varying resorption rates can be selected to control the correction speed. By changing the material parameters (type, composition, degradation rate) of the blocks, the correction rate can be customized to match patient-specific needs while maintaining automatic activation. This parameter control resolves the contradiction between automation and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The use of different resorbable materials with tailored properties allows for customized correction rates. The blocks can be made from composite or specific biodegradable materials whose degradation characteristics can be pre-determined to provide controlled, gradual correction. This material selection flexibility enables both automatic activation and customizable correction rates.
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 bioresorbable material-activated mechanism offers a less invasive, more gradual correction of pectus excavatum, reducing pain and the need for additional surgeries, maintaining the minimal invasiveness of the Nuss procedure while allowing for tailored deployment rates, and eliminating the need for user input or additional actuation methods.
Implementation Method 1
The resorbable material is then used to restrain the mechanism in the energy-stored configuration. The mechanism is then placed in its intended use environment, one where the environment acts as a solvent for the resorbable restraint. As the resorbable material dissolves, the restraining force is either gradually or instantaneously removed and stored energy is used to actuate the mechanism.
Implementation Method 2
The most easily applicable energy would be strain energy through the use of compliant segments deflected from their initial position.
Data Source
AI summary
A device using resorbable materials to actuate, such as a device (10) for repairing pectus excavatum in a patient through activation of a bioresorbable material (40, 52).