Stemless Expandable Hip Prosthesis Bone Preservation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current hip prostheses, especially those with stems, cause significant bone stock loss and stress shielding, leading to pain and limited mobility, and require extensive bone resection and revision surgeries, which are not ideal for younger patients with higher expectations for mobility and durability.

Innovation Solution

An expandable hip prosthesis without a stem, featuring a grooved shaft, spherical head, and expandable levers that allow for fixation at the trochanter neck, providing rotational stability and maximum motion while minimizing bone resection and promoting bone stock preservation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Strength

If a stem is used in hip prosthesis to provide fixation and load transmission, then primary stability and fixation strength are improved, but bone stock loss and stress shielding increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvefixation strengthVSAvoidbone stock loss
Core Design Contradiction:
StrengthVSLoss of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The invention extracts and removes the stem component from the prosthesis design, creating a stemless hip prosthesis that fixes directly to the femoral head. This eliminates the need for extensive bone resection required for stem insertion while maintaining fixation through direct bone-to-prosthesis contact at the femoral head level.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The invention transitions from longitudinal load transmission through a stem to radial load distribution through expandable levers that engage the femoral head in multiple directions. The expandable lever mechanism distributes forces across multiple dimensions of the femoral head, providing stable fixation without requiring a stem extending down the femoral shaft.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Stability of the object's composition

If a stem is used in hip prosthesis to ensure fixation, then primary stability is improved, but stress shielding and pain occur

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprimary stabilityVSAvoidstress shielding
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSObject-generated harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

By removing the stem entirely, the invention eliminates the source of stress shielding that occurs when a stiff stem carries load away from the surrounding bone. The stemless design allows physiological stress distribution to continue through the femoral head and neck, preventing stress shielding while maintaining primary stability through direct fixation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Strength

If extensive bone resection is performed to accommodate stem placement, then fixation is improved, but revision surgery complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovefixationVSAvoidrevision surgery
Core Design Contradiction:
StrengthVSEase of repair

Solution Approach 1:

The stemless design removes the need for creating a stem canal through extensive bone resection. This preserves the patient's native bone stock and anatomical structure, making future revision surgeries significantly easier and less complex compared to removing a deeply embedded stem that requires substantial bone work.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

4Loss of substance

If a stemless design is used to preserve bone stock, then bone preservation is improved, but rotational stability may be compromised

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvebone stock preservationVSAvoidrotational stability
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of substanceVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The invention employs dynamically expandable levers that transition from a compact insertion state to an expanded fixation state. During insertion, the levers are collapsed to allow easy placement into the femoral head. Once positioned, the levers are expanded outward to engage the femoral head cortex, providing robust rotational stability while maintaining bone stock preservation throughout the process.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The prosthesis is segmented into multiple expandable lever components rather than a single rigid stem. These segmented levers can be independently positioned and expanded to engage different aspects of the femoral head, providing multi-directional rotational stability while distributing fixation forces across multiple contact points, thereby preserving bone stock.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP3897464B1Stemless expandable hip prosthesis
Publication Date: 2023.02.01 DOKUZ EYLUL UNIVERSITESI REKTORLUGU
  • EP3897464B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3897464B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4B

AI summary

The invention is an expandable hip prosthesis (1), to be used in patients whose femur head (F) in femur (K) is damaged due to any reason, which can replace the femur head (B), without any stem and configured in a manner such that it limits the motion within the trochanter; characterized in that; it comprises the following; a grooved shaft (15), a lower plate (4) comprising a groove in the hole in the middle in the lower section of said grooved shaft (15), an upper plate (3) fixed to the upper section where the grooved section of the grooved shaft (15) is not present, a plurality of sphere slot (5) which is disposed on the lower surface of the upper plate (3) and the upper surface of the lower plate (4), is engaged with spherical headed levers (9) and slot and spherical headed levers (8), a plurality of slot and spherical headed lever (8) and a spherical headed lever (9) which are disposed in the sphere slots (5) positioned on the lower surface of the upper plate (3) alt and the upper surface of the lower plate (4), are engaged with each other in a manner such that they can move through the joint sides (16) thereof, a spherical head (2) which is attached to the neck (10) on the upper portion of the grooved shaft (15), is appropriate to the femur head (F) anatomy.