Surgical Guide Carriage System for Ligament Repair Trajectory Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical guides for forming bone tunnels in ACL and PCL reconstruction procedures face issues such as divergence, over-drilling, and lack of universality, making them inaccurate and inconvenient for surgeons to use with either hand on either knee.
Innovation Solution
The development of surgical guides with a carriage system that allows for precise angle and trajectory setting, separate from the user's grip, and a drill pin depth gage to prevent over-drilling, enabling accurate and universal use on either knee with either hand.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a modular guide with thumb screw is used to set trajectory, then the guide can be adjusted for different angles, but the thumb screw may be accidentally disengaged causing divergence
Solution Approach 1:
The guide is divided into separate components: a stationary guide body that defines the trajectory, and a movable bullet that can be independently positioned and locked. This segmentation allows the trajectory-defining elements to remain fixed while still allowing adjustment through component replacement or repositioning, eliminating the need for a thumb screw that could accidentally disengage.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide allows the trajectory to be pre-set by positioning the bullet at the desired location before the drilling operation begins. Once positioned, the bullet is secured in place, ensuring the trajectory remains fixed throughout the procedure. This preliminary positioning and securing eliminates the risk of trajectory change during operation.
2Ease of operation
If the guide arm is held by the user during operation, then the guide is easy to manipulate, but the trajectory may shift due to user grip movement
Solution Approach 1:
The trajectory-defining elements (guide arm and bullet positioning mechanism) are extracted from the user-gripped portion of the device. The user holds only the stable base, while the trajectory is defined by the stationary guide structure and secured bullet, which are not affected by user grip movements. This separation ensures that manipulation does not compromise trajectory accuracy.
3Device complexity
If no depth control mechanism is used, then the drilling operation is simpler, but over-drilling may occur causing damage to surrounding tissue
Solution Approach 1:
A depth control mechanism is pre-configured on the guide, with depth indicators and stop features established before the drilling operation begins. The drill bit length is predetermined and controlled by the guide structure, ensuring that the drilling depth is limited to the safe distance from the bone tunnel entrance. This preliminary setup prevents over-drilling without adding complex active control systems.
4Ease of manufacture
If a non-universal guide design is used, then the guide can be optimized for specific procedures, but it cannot be used on either knee with either hand
Solution Approach 1:
The guide is designed with symmetric or ambidextrous features that allow it to be used on either the left or right knee with either hand. The guide body and bullet positioning mechanism are configured to accommodate various anatomical variations and surgical approaches, making the same guide design universally applicable across different surgical scenarios without requiring procedure-specific variants.
Data Source
AI summary
Devices, systems, and methods are provided for ligament repair procedures, and can be used to establish a location and trajectory for forming a bone tunnel in bone. One exemplary embodiment of a surgical guide for using in a ligament repair procedure includes a guide arm and a carriage that can be selectively locked along the guide arm to define an angle of the bone tunnel. The guide arm also defines a location of a distal end of the bone tunnel. In some embodiments the carriage is configured to have a bullet side-loaded into it, and the bullet can be used to define a location of a proximal end of the bone tunnel. The present disclosure also provides for a gage that limits the distance a drill pin that drills the bone tunnel can travel. A variety of other, devices, systems, and methods are also provided.