Tapered Tibial Augment for Lateral Overhang Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
In knee replacement surgery, there is often a loss of bone at the proximal portion of the tibia, leading to a lateral overhang of the tibial platform, which can cause instability and discomfort, and existing solutions do not effectively address the varying bone shapes and sizes of patients.
Innovation Solution
A tibial augment with a tapered periphery is used to attach to the tibial platform, featuring varying tapers on its medial and lateral sides to reduce or eliminate the lateral overhang, matching the footprint of the tibia bone and ensuring a secure fit without excessive exposure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a standard tibial platform is used to compensate for bone loss, then the bone loss is compensated, but a lateral overhang is created causing instability and discomfort
Solution Approach 1:
The tibial augment incorporates different taper angles on its medial and lateral sides, with the lateral side having a greater taper angle than the medial side. This local differentiation allows the lateral aspect to better conform to the patient's anatomy and reduce lateral overhang, while the medial side maintains adequate support, thereby resolving the instability caused by uniform platforms
2Ease of manufacture
If a uniform taper is applied to the tibial augment, then manufacturing is simplified, but it cannot effectively address varying bone shapes and sizes of different patients
Solution Approach 1:
The tibial augment employs an asymmetric taper design where the lateral taper angle is deliberately made greater than the medial taper angle. This asymmetric geometry provides better adaptability to the natural anatomical variations in tibial bone shapes and sizes across different patients, while still maintaining a manufacturable design through defined angular parameters
Data Source
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AI summary
In typical knee repair or replacement surgery, a femoral implant includes a pair of convex condylar surfaces that can slide within corresponding concave bearing indentations on a tibial bearing surface. The tibial bearing surface is disposed on a proximal side of a tibial platform (120). A stem can extend distally from the tibial platform, and can attach to a cut proximal end of the tibia. A tibial augment (100) can attach to the distal side of the tibial platform, and can reduce or eliminate a lateral overhang of the tibial platform with respect to the cut proximal end of the tibia. The tibial augment may have a tapered periphery. The taper may extend inward in a distal direction. The taper may vary along the periphery of the tibial augment, so that at least a portion of a medial taper (118) is different from at least a portion of a lateral taper (116).