Tibial Alignment Device Angular Coupling Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tibial alignment devices face challenges in accurate assembly and disassembly from the tibial cutting guide, limited adjustment capabilities, and poor cleanability, leading to inaccurate surgeries and increased risk of infection during total knee arthroplasty.
Innovation Solution
A tibial alignment device with a cutting guide coupling part that can be coupled or separated from the tibial cutting guide at various angles, featuring a fastening member and reception member with adjustable gaps, a lever mechanism for easy locking and unlocking, and an ankle forceps part with a cleaning groove for improved hygiene.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the tibial alignment device uses a straight line assembly path, then the structure is simple, but it is difficult to detach and attach devices during surgery and collisions occur between surgical instruments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the rigid straight-line assembly path into a dynamic multi-directional coupling mechanism. The cutting guide coupling part includes a fastening member with a coupling part that can be inserted into and coupled to the tibial cutting guide at various angles, allowing the assembly path to adapt dynamically to surgical needs rather than being constrained to a fixed straight line.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention adds angular freedom to the assembly process by enabling coupling at various angles rather than restricting to a single straight-line dimension. The fastening member's coupling part can be attached to the tibial cutting guide from multiple directional approaches, effectively transitioning from one-dimensional linear assembly to multi-dimensional angular coupling.
2Reliability
If the tibial alignment device has a narrow disassembly radius, then the structure is compact, but collisions occur between surgical instruments and aligned positions are disturbed
Solution Approach 1:
The lever member provides dynamic control over the gap between coupling parts, allowing the disassembly radius to expand when needed. When the lever member moves to the unlocked state, the gap increases, providing a larger disassembly radius that prevents collisions with surgical instruments while maintaining position stability through the locked state when the gap is narrow.
3Manufacturing precision
If the gap between coupling parts is fixed, then the structure is simple, but it is difficult to adjust alignment length accurately
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic gap adjustment mechanism where the distance between the fastening member's coupling part and the reception member's coupling part can be varied. The lever member controls this gap, allowing it to be narrow for secure locking or wide for accurate length adjustment, thereby achieving precise alignment length adjustment without sacrificing structural simplicity.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If the ankle forceps part has no cleaning groove, then the structure is simple, but cleaning is difficult and infection risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the cleaning function from the ankle forceps part by incorporating a cleaning groove into its structure. This groove provides a dedicated pathway for cleaning solutions to reach and clean internal surfaces, effectively removing the cleaning difficulty that would otherwise exist in a simple closed structure, thereby reducing infection risk without significantly complicating the overall device.
Data Source
AI summary
A tibial alignment device includes an upper part for coupling with a tibial cutting guide and a lower part coupled to the upper part to be vertically slidable, wherein the upper part includes a cutting guide coupling part configured to mount the tibial cutting guide, and a connection part to connect the upper part and the lower part, and the lower part includes an ankle forceps part, wherein the cutting guide coupling part includes a fastening member for coupling to the tibial cutting guide, and a reception member to slidably receive the fastening member, wherein the fastening member includes a coupling part that protrudes to be coupled to the tibial cutting guide, the reception member includes a coupling part that protrudes to be coupled to the tibial cutting guide, and the coupling part of the fastening member is capable of adjusting a gap with respect to the coupling part of the reception member.