Patient-Specific Surgical Guidance Tool with Intraoperative Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional computer-assisted surgery (CAS) systems for bone and joint procedures are costly, increase surgical time, and require extensive training, while surgical templates lack intraoperative verification and adjustment capabilities, leading to variability in surgical precision and outcomes.
Innovation Solution
A patient-specific guidance tool with a guide component and registration component, adjustable during surgery, and a verification component for ensuring correct positioning, designed using preoperative 3D modeling and imaging to provide precise and customizable alignment for medical instruments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional computer-assisted surgery (CAS) systems are used, then surgical accuracy and precision are improved, but surgical cost and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a physical patient-specific template that copies the virtual surgical plan from CAS software. The template incorporates pre-calculated trajectories and anatomical landmarks, transferring the digital planning information into a tangible guide that can be used with conventional surgical instruments, thereby achieving CAS accuracy without requiring complex intraoperative CAS equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The surgical plan is created in advance using CAS software, and the patient-specific template is manufactured before surgery based on this pre-operative planning. This preliminary action allows the complex computational work to be done before the surgical procedure, eliminating the need for complex real-time CAS systems during surgery while maintaining high precision.
2Manufacturing precision
If conventional surgical templates are used, then alignment precision is improved, but intraoperative verification and adjustment capabilities are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the patient-specific template with adjustable components that allow modification of surgical trajectories during the procedure. The template includes movable elements and alternative positioning features that enable surgeons to adapt the pre-planned trajectories intraoperatively if anatomical variations or surgical findings require adjustments, thus combining precision with adaptability.
3Reliability
If patient-specific guidance tools with verification components are used, then surgical precision and repeatability are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patient-specific template includes built-in verification features such as registration markers and alignment indicators that allow the template to self-verify its correct positioning on the patient's anatomy. These self-verifying features eliminate the need for separate complex verification systems while ensuring high repeatability and reliability of the surgical guidance.
Data Source
AI summary
Presented is a preoperatively designed guidance tool for intraoperative use during bone or joint surgery wherein the guidance tool is specific to the anatomy of the patient being treated. The guidance tool comprises a body portion, a mating surface provided on the body portion for positioning the guidance tool on a corresponding registration surface of a patient's anatomy. The guidance tool further comprises at least one guide mechanism provided on the body portion for guiding a medical instrument at one or more preoperatively defined trajectories relative to a patient's anatomy. In the event of misalignment, the at least one guide mechanism is adjustable to alter the one or more preoperatively defined trajectories if necessary during intraoperative use. Also presented is a preoperative process for designing the guidance tool.