Freeform TRI-planar Osteotomy Guide for Metatarsocuneiform Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current osteotomy procedures lack precision and effectiveness in aligning and realigning bones, particularly in the metatarsocuneiform joint of the human foot, leading to deformities such as metatarsus primus varus and hallux valgus, which are challenging to correct due to soft tissue attenuation and contractures.
Innovation Solution
An osteotomy system with a guide that includes joint alignment features, fixation elements, and guide features to accurately position and cut bones, allowing for precise reorientation of the metatarsus and cuneiform bones, enabling the creation of a gap for realignment and potential fusion in a predetermined angular relationship.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional osteotomy procedures are performed without specialized guides, then the procedure is simpler and requires fewer instruments, but precision in aligning and realigning bones is insufficient leading to deformities
Solution Approach 1:
The osteotomy guide is designed and positioned before the actual bone cutting occurs. The guide pre-establishes the precise angular relationship and alignment between bone segments, allowing the surgeon to make accurate cuts without complex intraoperative adjustments. This preliminary positioning resolves the contradiction by ensuring precision is built into the system design rather than achieved through complex procedural techniques.
Solution Approach 2:
The osteotomy guide acts as an intermediary device between the surgeon and the bone. It translates the desired angular correction into physical guide features that direct the cutting instruments. This intermediary tool simplifies the overall system complexity by consolidating alignment functions into a single device rather than requiring multiple complex instruments and techniques.
2Manufacturing precision
If precise bone realignment is achieved through multiple adjustment steps, then alignment accuracy improves, but procedure time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The guide's angular relationship and alignment parameters are predetermined and built into its structure before the surgery. This eliminates the need for multiple intraoperative adjustment steps to achieve precise alignment. The surgeon simply positions the guide and makes cuts according to the pre-established geometry, significantly reducing procedure time while maintaining high alignment accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The osteotomy guide integrates multiple functions into a single device: alignment reference, cutting guide, and angular correction template. This multi-functionality allows precise realignment to be achieved through a unified process rather than multiple separate adjustment steps, reducing both time and complexity while maintaining accuracy.
3Adaptability or versatility
If soft tissue contractures are present, then bone realignment becomes more difficult and requires more complex procedures, but simple cutting guides cannot address the soft tissue constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The osteotomy guide is designed with specific local features adapted to the surgical site conditions. The guide body can be customized with cutouts, windows, or flexible components that accommodate surrounding soft tissue structures. This local adaptation allows the guide to maintain precise alignment functionality while working around soft tissue contractures without compromising realignment accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide system incorporates dynamic elements that allow adjustment during the procedure. The guide can be positioned and secured at different orientations, and may include adjustable components that adapt to the actual soft tissue conditions encountered during surgery. This dynamic adaptability enables precise realignment even when soft tissue contractures present unexpected constraints.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for performing an osteotomy are presented. Examples include forming a fusion osteotomy at a metatarsocuneiform joint of the first ray of a human foot.