Targeting Guide for Intramedullary Nail and Bone Plate Alignment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical procedures for implanting intramedullary nails and bone plates in bones lack precise alignment and stabilization methods, leading to suboptimal structural support and stability during bone fracture treatment.
Innovation Solution
A targeting guide system that aligns and holds drill guides and bone plates relative to intramedullary nails, ensuring coaxial screw placement and forming a strong structural framework by using a handle with threaded members and offset mechanisms for precise alignment and attachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional surgical procedures are used for implanting intramedullary nails and bone plates, then the surgical process can be performed with simple tools, but precise alignment and stabilization are difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
A targeting guide is introduced as an intermediary device between the surgeon and the implantation process. The targeting guide includes a handle with threaded members that engage with the intramedullary nail, and offset mechanisms that position drill guides relative to the nail axis. This intermediary device enables precise alignment and stabilization without requiring complex direct control mechanisms from the surgeon.
Solution Approach 2:
The targeting guide is attached to the intramedullary nail before the bone plate implantation process begins. The offset mechanisms are pre-positioned to establish the correct spatial relationship between the nail and the drill guides. This preliminary setup ensures that when the bone plate is attached to the drill guides, the screw holes will be coaxial with the nail, eliminating the need for complex real-time alignment adjustments during screw insertion.
2Manufacturing precision
If drill guides are aligned manually without a targeting guide, then the surgical procedure is simpler, but coaxial alignment of screw holes is difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The targeting guide serves as a mediator that automatically establishes coaxial alignment between the intramedullary nail and the drill guides. The offset mechanisms are designed with specific dimensions that correspond to the required distance between the nail axis and the screw hole axes. When the targeting guide is attached to the nail and the drill guides are positioned in the offset mechanisms, the geometry of the device ensures that the screw holes will be coaxial with the nail, eliminating the need for complex manual alignment procedures.
3Strength
If bone plates are attached directly to the bone without drill guide alignment, then the attachment process is faster, but structural stability and load distribution are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The targeting guide is attached to the intramedullary nail before the bone plate implantation process begins. The offset mechanisms are pre-positioned to establish the correct spatial relationship between the nail and the drill guides. This preliminary setup ensures that when the bone plate is attached to the drill guides, the screw holes will be coaxial with the nail, eliminating the need for complex real-time alignment adjustments during screw insertion.
Solution Approach 2:
The drill guides act as intermediaries between the intramedullary nail and the bone plate. The targeting guide ensures that the drill guides are positioned at the correct offset from the nail axis, and the drill guides then serve as precise alignment references for attaching the bone plate. This intermediary system ensures that the bone plate screws will be coaxial with the nail, providing optimal structural stability and load distribution while maintaining a relatively simple attachment process.
Data Source
AI summary
A system is provided that includes a first implant including first and second screw receiving holes having respective first and second longitudinal axes. A second implant includes third and fourth screw receiving holes having respective third and fourth longitudinal axes. At least one drill guide has respective fifth and sixth longitudinal axes. A targeting guide is provided for aligning the drill guides with each of the first and second implants simultaneously, so that the first, third and fifth longitudinal axes lie along a same line as each other, and the second, fourth and sixth longitudinal axes lie along a same line as each other.