Surgical Insert Instrument with Angled Tip for Implant Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
In traditional surgical implant procedures, such as knee replacements, the tibial implant may not be fully engaged with and secured to the implant holder if the tongue-and-groove connection is not properly aligned, leading to instability and potential breakage.
Innovation Solution
A surgical instrument with a handle, an elongate arm, and a tip is designed to facilitate the insertion of a surgical implant into an implant holder by maintaining a consistent, predetermined angle, ensuring proper engagement of the tongue-and-groove connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual insertion method is used, then ease of operation is improved, but manufacturing precision (alignment accuracy) deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a specialized insertion tool as an intermediary device between the surgeon's hand and the implant components. This tool includes a guide structure with a predetermined angle that mediates the insertion process, ensuring accurate alignment while remaining easy to operate. The guide structure acts as a mechanical mediator that translates manual insertion forces into precisely aligned component engagement.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide structure is pre-configured with the exact predetermined angle required for proper tongue-and-groove alignment. This preliminary preparation of the insertion tool eliminates the need for complex intraoperative alignment adjustments, maintaining ease of operation while ensuring manufacturing precision is achieved through pre-planned geometric constraints.
2Device complexity
If no alignment guidance is provided, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The insertion tool is segmented into distinct functional components: a handle for ease of grip, a shaft for force transmission, and a guide structure for alignment. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently while keeping the overall device relatively simple. The guide structure itself is segmented to provide both angular guidance and depth control features.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide structure serves as a mechanical intermediary that enforces the predetermined angle requirement for reliable tongue-and-groove engagement. This intermediary component translates the complex requirement for precise angular alignment into a simple physical constraint that passively ensures reliable engagement without requiring complex active control systems.
3Manufacturing precision
If precise angle control is implemented, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The precise angular control is built into the guide structure through preliminary geometric design. The guide structure is manufactured with a fixed predetermined angle that physically constrains the insertion path, eliminating the need for complex adjustable mechanisms or electronic control systems during surgery. This preliminary preparation of the geometric constraints achieves high precision while maintaining device simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide structure is designed to self-align and self-constrain the insertion process through its predetermined angle geometry. Once positioned, the guide structure automatically maintains the correct alignment without requiring active control or adjustment by the operator, achieving manufacturing precision through passive geometric self-service rather than active complex control systems.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a surgical instrument having a handle with an elongate member extending from the handle. The handle may be coupled to the elongate member at a first portion of the elongate member. The surgical instrument may also include a tip extending from the elongate member such that the tip may be coupled to a second portion of the elongate member. The tip may include a top surface and a bottom surface extending from a terminating end of the tip, and the top surface and the bottom surface may form a converging angle. The tip may also include an abutment that may be substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface.