Tissue Repair Suture Plate for Bone Integrity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for reattaching soft tissues to bones, such as using screws, staples, and suture anchors, often compromise bone integrity and do not effectively distribute the load across the tissue, leading to potential damage and inadequate healing.
Innovation Solution
The use of a tissue repair suture plate with elongate plates having bone fixation elements and multiple openings for suture strands, allowing for secure attachment of soft tissue to bone without the need for multiple suture anchors, thereby distributing the load and promoting healing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If multiple suture anchors are used to increase fixation points, then the number of tissue attachment points increases, but bone integrity is compromised due to impingement and removal of bone material
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the fixation function into two separate components: a single suture anchor embedded in the bone, and a suture plate with multiple openings that distributes the tissue attachment points. This segmentation allows multiple fixation points without requiring multiple anchors in the bone, thus preserving bone integrity while achieving the goal of increased fixation points.
Solution Approach 2:
The suture plate acts as an intermediary element between the single suture anchor and the multiple tissue attachment points. The plate receives the load from multiple sutures and transfers it to the single anchor-bone interface, eliminating the need for multiple anchors and the associated bone damage.
2Quantity of substance
If multiple suture strands are attached to a single anchor, then the number of tissue fixation points increases, but the load on the tissue is not appreciably reduced because all strands pass through the same region
Solution Approach 1:
The suture plate extends the fixation points from a single point (the anchor) to multiple points distributed across the plate surface in two dimensions. By passing sutures through different openings at different locations on the plate, the load is distributed across multiple tissue regions rather than concentrating force in one area, enabling better load distribution while maintaining multiple fixation points.
3Force
If the number of suture anchors is increased to distribute load, then load distribution improves, but the complexity of the surgical procedure and device increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the functions of multiple suture anchors into a single integrated system: one suture anchor combined with a multi-opening suture plate. This consolidation achieves the load distribution benefits of multiple anchors while reducing the actual number of anchor implants needed, thereby simplifying the surgical procedure and reducing device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Tissue repair suture plates and methods of use are provided which can, in general, allow soft tissue to be secured to bone. In one embodiment, a tissue repair suture plate can include a plurality of openings formed therethrough that can each be configured to have one or more sutures passed therethrough. Each of the sutures can be configured to be coupled to a soft tissue to be positioned against bone for healing thereagainst such that the soft tissue can have multiple sutures coupled thereto at different areas thereof. One or more bone fixation elements can be coupled to the plate and can be configured to attach the plate to the bone. The plate can be configured to move between a first configuration in which the plate has a first maximum length and a second configuration in which the plate has a second, greater maximum length.