Spinal Implant Delivery Device with Protective Sheath
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional surgical techniques for delivering spinal implants often result in significant trauma to nerve tissue, leading to increased recovery time and patient discomfort, due to the difficulty in accurately placing the implants at the intended site.
Innovation Solution
A spinal implant delivery device featuring an elongated split delivery guide with insertion members that can be compressed for insertion and expand to create a protected channel for delivering implants, minimizing contact with nerve tissue and preventing physical contact with the spinal cord.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional surgical techniques are used to deliver spinal implants, then the implant can be placed at the intended site, but significant trauma is caused to nerve tissue leading to increased recovery time and patient discomfort
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a delivery device as an intermediary tool between the surgeon and the spinal implant. This device includes a protective sheath that acts as a mediator to guide the implant while protecting surrounding nerve tissue from direct contact and trauma during the delivery process
Solution Approach 2:
The delivery device is segmented into distinct functional components: a protective sheath, a delivery channel, and an implant. The sheath can be advanced independently to create a protected pathway, then the implant is delivered through this pre-established protected channel, separating the protective function from the implant itself
2Ease of operation
If conventional surgical techniques are used, then the implant delivery process is simple, but the recovery time is significantly increased due to tissue trauma
Solution Approach 1:
The protective sheath is advanced and positioned in the delivery pathway before the implant is delivered. This preliminary action creates a pre-established protected channel that guides the subsequent implant delivery while protecting nerve tissue, thereby reducing trauma and accelerating recovery without significantly complicating the overall surgical procedure
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the delivery device has a protective channel structure, then nerve tissue is protected from contact, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The protective sheath is constructed as a flexible, tubular structure that can be easily advanced through tissue and maintained in position. This flexible shell design provides effective protection for nerve tissue while remaining relatively simple in construction, avoiding the need for complex rigid frameworks
Data Source
AI summary
A spinal implant delivery device can include a pair of insertion members that can be inserted into a subject towards, for example, an intervertebral space or other target site for a spinal implant. The insertion members can define a channel with an open side and a slot through which an instrument or implant cannot exit the channel. The slot thereby protects adjacent tissue and nerves from potential damage during a surgical procedure. The insertion members can include distance indicators and/or a plurality of apertures. The distance indicators can be used to visually determine how deep the insertion members are inserted into a subject at any given time. The apertures can provide a direct view into the channel of the spinal implant delivery device, allowing a surgeon or other user to visually determine the position of an instrument or implant disposed in the channel.