Resorbable Polymer Mesh Delivery System for Irregular Bone Grafts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bone grafts and substitutes struggle to conform to irregular surgical sites, provide immediate mechanical support, and facilitate customized delivery, leading to limitations in bone healing and integration due to their fixed shape and size, as well as issues with stress shielding and corrosion from metal implants.
Innovation Solution
A delivery system comprising a mesh of synthetic resorbable polymeric material with a physical attachment mechanism, capable of retaining bone graft material and facilitating its transfer upon implantation, allowing for customization and conformability to the surgical site, while also controlling the release of substances and tissue ingrowth.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional bone grafts and substitutes are used, then they can provide bone healing, but they cannot conform to irregular surgical sites due to fixed shape and size
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible membrane or shell structure to contain the bone graft material, allowing the implant to conform to irregular surgical sites. The flexible containment structure can be molded or shaped intraoperatively to match the specific geometry of the defect, resolving the contradiction between maintaining structural integrity and achieving site-specific conformability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes materials with changeable physical properties, such as temperature-responsive or moisture-responsive polymers, that allow the bone graft containment structure to transition from a rigid transport state to a flexible, conformable state upon implantation. This parameter change enables the implant to adapt to irregular surgical sites while maintaining its fixed shape during handling and implantation.
2Strength
If conventional bone grafts are used, then they can be delivered to the site, but they cannot provide immediate mechanical support due to lack of structural integrity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines bone graft material with a structurally supportive containment structure made of biocompatible material. This composite construction provides immediate mechanical support through the containment shell while the bone graft material facilitates biological healing, resolving the contradiction between structural strength and biological functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the implant into functional segments: a structural containment component that provides mechanical support and a bone graft component that enables biological healing. This segmentation allows each component to optimize its specific function while working together as an integrated system.
3Strength
If metal implants are used to provide mechanical support, then they can replace bone function, but they cause stress shielding and corrosion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs biocompatible materials with mechanical properties that change over time, transitioning from high strength during the healing period to gradual resorption or integration with surrounding bone tissue. This time-dependent parameter change eliminates stress shielding by matching the progressive restoration of bone strength and avoids corrosion by using biocompatible, non-metallic materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes resorbable biocompatible materials that gradually degrade and are replaced by natural bone tissue over time. The containment structure provides temporary mechanical support during healing, then progressively disappears as the bone heals, eliminating long-term stress shielding and avoiding the corrosion issues associated with permanent metal implants.
4Ease of operation
If bone graft material is delivered without a containment structure, then it can be easily placed, but it cannot maintain graft density or prevent migration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible membrane or thin-walled containment structure that can be easily inserted and shaped at the surgical site while effectively containing the bone graft material. The flexible structure maintains graft density through its containment geometry while allowing easy manipulation and placement, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and stability of composition.
Data Source
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AI summary
A covering for delivering a substance or material to a surgical site is provided. The covering, with substance provided therein, may be referred to as a delivery system. Generally, the covering may be a single or multi-compartment structure capable of at least partially retaining a substance provided therein until the covering is placed at a surgical site. Upon placement, the covering may facilitate transfer of the substance or surrounding materials. For example, the substance may be released (actively or passively) to the surgical site. The covering may participate in, control, or otherwise adjust, the release of the substance.