Reusable Bone Guide with Interchangeable Patient-Specific Inserts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current patient-specific bone preparation guides are customized for individual patients and typically discarded after surgery, leading to high material and cost inefficiencies, as they are not reusable across multiple patients.
Innovation Solution
A bone preparation system comprising a guide body with movable bone locators and a patient-specific insert, where the insert is customized based on image data to define a patient-specific bone engaging surface, allowing the guide body to be reused across different patients by accommodating various bone geometries through interchangeable inserts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If patient-specific bone preparation guides are customized for individual patients, then manufacturing precision and bone engagement accuracy are improved, but material costs and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The guide system is divided into two segments: a universal guide body that can be reused and a patient-specific insert that provides customization. This segmentation allows the complex patient-specific features to be isolated to removable inserts while the main guide body remains standardized and reusable.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide body is designed with universal features that can accommodate multiple patient-specific inserts. The guide body serves multiple functions: providing structural support, guiding cutting instruments, and interfacing with different patient-specific inserts through standardized interfaces.
2Manufacturing precision
If patient-specific guides are discarded after single use, then manufacturing precision is maintained, but material waste and cost inefficiency increase
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the reusable guide body from the disposable patient-specific insert, the system allows only the insert to be discarded after use, while the expensive guide body is preserved and reused across multiple patients, significantly reducing material waste.
Solution Approach 2:
The patient-specific insert is designed to be discarded after a single use, while the guide body is recovered and reused. This selective discarding strategy maintains manufacturing precision through the reusable guide body while minimizing material waste by only discarding the lower-cost insert.
3Adaptability or versatility
If interchangeable patient-specific inserts are used with a universal guide body, then adaptability across multiple patients is improved, but device complexity and setup time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the customization functionality into separate patient-specific inserts that can be easily exchanged. Each insert contains only the necessary patient-specific geometric features, while the guide body provides universal functionality, simplifying the overall exchange mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide body incorporates universal interfaces and features that work with multiple different patient-specific inserts. This universality reduces the complexity of the exchange mechanism by providing standardized connection points and alignment features that work across all insert types.
Data Source
AI summary
A bone preparation system including a guide body and a plurality of bone locators. The guide body is configured to mate with a patient-specific module having a patient-specific module surface customized based on image data of a specific patient to correspond to the patient's specific bone geometry. The plurality of bone locators are coupled to the guide body and positioned by the patient-specific module surface to define a patient-specific bone engaging surface of the guide corresponding to the patient's specific bone geometry.