Tracker Mount With Keyed Sleeve For Bone Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bone mounts for surgical navigation systems are prone to rotational instability, cause bone damage, are disposable, lack durability, and are not ergonomically optimized, leading to inaccurate tracking and increased risk of interference at the surgical site.
Innovation Solution
A tracker mount with a fastener assembly and a sleeve assembly that includes a keying feature to prevent rotation, an engagement feature for the bone, and a tracker interface, allowing for secure and stable attachment to the bone with minimal damage and improved ergonomics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional bone mounts use multiple fasteners to attach to bone, then attachment strength is improved, but bone damage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bone mount is divided into separate components: a reusable sleeve assembly and a disposable fastener assembly. The fastener assembly includes multiple fasteners that can be independently attached and detached, allowing selective replacement of only the fastener portion while retaining the sleeve, thereby reducing overall bone damage compared to monolithic single-use mounts requiring complete replacement
Solution Approach 2:
The sleeve assembly is designed to be recovered and reused across multiple surgical procedures, while only the fastener assembly is discarded after single use. This separation allows the expensive, complex sleeve with its precision-machined keying features and engagement elements to be sterilized and reused, while the disposable fasteners are replaced, reducing cumulative bone damage from repeated insertion of multiple fasteners
2Ease of operation
If conventional bone mounts are made disposable for single use, then ease of operation is improved, but durability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The bone mount is segmented into a reusable sleeve assembly and a disposable fastener assembly. The sleeve assembly, which contains the complex keying features, engagement elements, and tracker interface, is designed to be sterilized and reused across multiple procedures, thereby improving durability. The fastener assembly remains disposable for ease of operation and infection control
Solution Approach 2:
The fastener assembly is designed as a disposable component that is inexpensive and single-use, while the sleeve assembly is the durable, reusable component. This allows the system to maintain ease of operation with disposable fasteners while achieving durability through reuse of the sleeve assembly, which is the more complex and expensive portion of the system
3Stability of the object's composition
If conventional bone mounts use a sleeve that obstructs fastener visibility, then rotational stability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The design separates the sleeve assembly (which provides rotational stability through its keying features) from the fastener assembly (which requires visibility for insertion). The fastener assembly can be attached to the bone first, then the sleeve assembly is disposed over it, allowing the user to see and manipulate the fastener during insertion without the sleeve obstructing the view. Once attached, the sleeve provides the necessary rotational stability
Solution Approach 2:
The fastener assembly is attached to the bone before the sleeve assembly is disposed over it. This preliminary action allows the user to have unobstructed visibility of the fastener during insertion and manipulation, while the sleeve assembly is only added afterward to provide rotational stability, eliminating the need to see through or around the sleeve during fastener insertion
4Strength
If conventional bone mounts have large surface footprint, then structural strength is improved, but interference at surgical site increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sleeve assembly is designed with a reduced surface footprint that minimizes interference with surrounding soft tissues and surgical instruments at the surgical site. The engagement features are concentrated at specific locations on the bone surface rather than requiring a large distributed footprint, allowing the sleeve to provide sufficient structural strength while occupying minimal space in the surgical field
Data Source
AI summary
A tracker mount includes a fastener assembly, a sleeve assembly to be disposed over the fastener assembly, and a tracker interface coupled to the sleeve assembly and configured to removably attach to a tracker. The fastener assembly includes a fastener adapted to be attached to a bone and a first keying feature. The sleeve assembly includes a sleeve, which includes a body defining a channel including a second keying feature to interface with the first keying feature to prevent rotation of the sleeve relative to the fastener assembly. The sleeve assembly includes an engagement feature at a distal part of the sleeve to engage a surface of the bone.