Trabecular Metal Suture Anchor for Bone Ingrowth Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing suture anchors, particularly those made from plastics like PEEK, face issues such as breakage, decoupling from bone, and require assembly, leading to potential dislodgment and increased manufacturing time and cost, while traditional anchors may back out over time or decouple under trauma.
Innovation Solution
A trabecular suture anchor with a biocompatible metallic mesh core and a rotatable post, additively manufactured to integrate with bone, featuring a trabecular mesh core with openings for bone ingrowth and a fork for tissue attachment, eliminating the need for assembly and enhancing stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional plastic anchors are used, then manufacturing is easier, but they are subject to breakage and decoupling from bone
Solution Approach 1:
The anchor is made from trabecular metal material that combines the benefits of metal strength with a porous trabecular structure. This composite-like material provides both mechanical reliability (resistance to breakage and decoupling) and biological functionality (bone integration), resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and reliability by using a specially engineered metal material rather than traditional plastics.
Solution Approach 2:
The anchor features a porous trabecular metal structure that allows bone ingrowth through its interconnected pores. This porous architecture provides mechanical interlocking with bone tissue, significantly improving reliability and preventing decoupling, while the material can be manufactured using additive manufacturing techniques that maintain both porosity and structural integrity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If anchors require assembly of multiple pieces, then manufacturing flexibility increases, but manufacturing time and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The anchor integrates multiple functional components into a single monolithic structure. The body, threads, and internal cavity are all formed as one piece through additive manufacturing, eliminating the need for assembly of multiple pieces while maintaining manufacturing flexibility and adaptability through the additive process itself.
Solution Approach 2:
Additive manufacturing enables flexible adjustment of design parameters (such as pore size, thread geometry, and overall dimensions) without requiring separate tooling or assembly processes. This allows manufacturing flexibility and adaptability to be maintained while producing single-piece anchors that reduce manufacturing time and costs.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If plastic anchors are used, then biocompatibility issues may arise, but metal anchors may offer better osteointegration
Solution Approach 1:
The porous trabecular metal structure facilitates osteointegration by allowing bone tissue to grow into and through the anchor body. This creates a stable biological connection between the metal anchor and bone, improving long-term stability while using biocompatible metal materials that reduce the risk of adverse biocomposite reactions compared to plastics.
Solution Approach 2:
The use of trabecular metal material provides a composite-like structure that combines the mechanical properties of metal with the biological functionality of a porous architecture. This resolves the contradiction by selecting metal materials with proven biocompatibility while creating a structure that actively promotes bone integration and stability.
4Strength
If anchors are solid-bodied, then structural strength is provided, but bone integration is prevented leading to decoupling
Solution Approach 1:
The anchor uses a porous trabecular metal structure that maintains structural strength through its optimized pore architecture while enabling bone ingrowth. The interconnected trabecular framework provides mechanical support and load-bearing capacity while the porous spaces allow bone tissue to penetrate and integrate with the anchor, resolving the contradiction between strength and bone integration.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The anchor provides enhanced osteointegration, reducing the risk of dislodgment and mechanical failure by allowing bone to grow into the mesh, ensuring secure attachment of suture materials to bone without separate assembly, and enabling 360-degree rotation for versatile implantation.
Implementation Method 1
The body portion includes a trabecular mesh core that at least partially defines a central bore between the first end and the second end. The trabecular mesh core includes a plurality of openings configured to facilitate bone growth through the trabecular mesh core.
Data Source
AI summary
An anchor device for attaching suture material to bone includes a body portion having a first end and a second end. The body portion includes a trabecular mesh core that at least partially defines a central bore between the first end and the second end. The trabecular mesh core includes a plurality of openings configured to receive/allow/facilitate bone growth through the trabecular mesh core. The body portion also includes at least one thread extending spirally along an exterior of the trabecular mesh core. The anchor device further includes a post at least partially positioned within the central bore and rotatably coupled to the body portion, wherein the post comprises a fork extending from the second end of the body portion and configured to attach soft tissue to the bone using the suture material. The body portion and the post are additively manufactured from a biocompatible material.