Suture-Button Construct for Canine Stifle Stabilization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical procedures for stabilizing a cranial cruciate ligament deficient stifle in canines are not simple, flexible, or minimally invasive, leading to inadequate strength and increased pain and lameness in affected animals.
Innovation Solution
A suture-button construct using high-strength suture tape and strands, such as FiberTape and FiberWire, connected by buttons made of materials like titanium or PEEK, is employed to stabilize the stifle joint through a minimally invasive approach, involving the placement of buttons over the tibia and femur and secured by a suture-button construct.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional surgical procedures are used for stabilizing cranial cruciate ligament deficient stifle, then the procedure can be performed, but the procedure is complex, invasive, and provides inadequate strength
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical procedure is segmented into distinct steps: creating drill holes in specific locations, inserting buttons into the holes, threading suture tape through the buttons, and tying knots to secure the construct. This segmentation simplifies the overall complex procedure by breaking it down into manageable, standardized components that can be performed systematically.
Solution Approach 2:
Buttons serve as intermediary elements between the suture tape and the bone. The buttons are inserted into drill holes in the femur and tibia, and the suture tape is threaded through the buttons to create the stabilization construct. This intermediary approach allows the suture tape to be securely anchored to the bone without requiring direct suturing of bone surfaces, simplifying the surgical procedure while maintaining strength.
2Reliability
If traditional surgical procedures are used, then stabilization can be achieved, but the approach is invasive causing increased pain and lameness
Solution Approach 1:
The suture-button construct takes out the need for extensive soft tissue dissection and large incisions required by traditional procedures. By using minimally invasive techniques to insert buttons into drill holes and thread suture tape, the procedure extracts only the essential elements needed for stabilization, minimizing trauma to surrounding tissues and reducing postoperative pain and lameness.
3Ease of operation
If simple and flexible procedures are used, then the procedure is easier to perform, but the strength and stability are inadequate
Solution Approach 1:
The suture-button construct uses composite materials including high-strength suture tape (such as FiberTape made from ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene), metal or polymer buttons, and suture strands (such as FiberWire). This combination of materials provides both ease of surgical manipulation and superior strength, with the suture tape offering high tensile strength and the buttons providing secure anchorage in the bone.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes key parameters of the stabilization construct by using high-strength suture tape instead of traditional suture material, and by using buttons with multiple apertures (such as four-aperture buttons) to allow complex suture threading patterns. These parameter changes—material strength and button aperture configuration—enable both simple surgical insertion and high construct strength.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and method for stabilization of a cranial cruciate ligament deficient stifle in canines using a suture-button construct. The method includes the steps of drilling a femoral hole across a distal femur, passing a needle with a pull-through suture strand of a suture-button construct through the femoral hole, and applying a tensile force to the pull-through suture strand and a suture tape or strand of the construct such that a first button of the suture-button construct lies sideways for passage through the femoral hole, advancing the first button through the femoral hole by pulling the pull-through suture strand until the first button exits the femoral hole, drilling a tibial hole and passing the needle with the pull-through suture strand through the tibial hole, applying a tensile force to the pull-through suture strand and the suture tape or strand of the construct such that the first button lies sideways for passage through the tibial hole, flipping the first button to engage the first button against the medial tibial cortex and subsequently cutting and removing the pull-through suture strand, pulling free ends of the suture tape or strand to advance a second button of the suture-button construct and to seat the second button against the femur, and securing the second button against the femur.