Rotatable Spinal Implant Anchoring Vertebrae
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing intervertebral implants face challenges in providing a flush interface with varying vertebral endplates, leading to potential explantation issues due to differences in concavity between superior and inferior endplates, which affects immobilization and fusion in spinal procedures.
Innovation Solution
The development of an implant device with a rotatable and piercing portion that engages adjacent vertebrae, featuring gripping portions and scissor arms to secure the implant between vertebrae, ensuring a stable and flush interface by rotating to pierce and anchor into the vertebral bodies, thereby resisting explantation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the implant is designed with a fixed shape to provide a flush interface with vertebral endplates, then the interface stability is improved, but the implant cannot adapt to varying degrees of concavity between superior and inferior endplates, leading to explantation
Solution Approach 1:
The implant incorporates a rotatable portion that can rotate about an axis to change the orientation of piercing portions. This dynamic adjustment allows the implant to adapt to varying concavity between superior and inferior endplates while maintaining stable engagement, resolving the contradiction between fixed interface stability and adaptability to anatomical variations
Solution Approach 2:
The implant changes its operational parameters by rotating the rotatable portion to different angles, thereby adjusting the orientation and position of piercing portions relative to the vertebral bodies. This parameter change enables the implant to accommodate different endplate concavities while maintaining flush interface contact
2Device complexity
If the implant uses simple gripping portions to engage vertebrae, then the device complexity is reduced, but the implant cannot reliably resist explantation forces
Solution Approach 1:
The implant is divided into distinct functional segments: gripping portions for initial engagement, a rotatable portion for orientation adjustment, and piercing portions for secure anchoring. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function effectively, providing reliable explantation resistance without excessive overall complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The gripping portions perform preliminary engagement with the vertebrae to establish initial positioning and stability. This preliminary action precedes the rotation and piercing operations, ensuring the implant is properly positioned before committing to the final secured state, thereby improving reliability without adding unnecessary complexity
3Adaptability or versatility
If the implant requires rotation to pierce vertebrae, then the adaptability to varying endplate concavity is improved, but the ease of operation during surgery is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable portion is designed to rotate during the normal insertion process itself, utilizing the insertion motion to simultaneously achieve both positioning and orientation adjustment. This self-service approach integrates the rotation function into the primary insertion operation, reducing the need for separate manual rotation steps and maintaining surgical ease while providing adaptability
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 implant device effectively secures itself between vertebrae, providing a stable interface that resists explantation and promotes immobilization and fusion, addressing the concavity differences in vertebral endplates and enhancing the success of spinal fusion surgeries.
Implementation Method 1
teeth to frictionally engage the adjacent vertebrae
Implementation Method 2
grip at least one of the adjacent vertebrae
Data Source
AI summary
An implant device is provided for implantation within an intervertebral space between adjacent vertebrae comprising an implant body, a rotatable portion and a piercing portion configured to pierce the adjacent vertebra.