Acetabular Cup Installation via Vibratory Impact and Force Sensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current total hip replacement surgeries face challenges with inconsistent acetabular cup placement due to unpredictable and uncontrolled forces used in traditional methods, leading to issues like hip instability, polyethylene wear, osteolysis, and the need for revision surgery, particularly affecting less experienced surgeons.
Innovation Solution
A system and method utilizing vibratory energy and intelligent tools to standardize the installation process, allowing for precise and controlled insertion and positioning of acetabular components, including the use of pneumatic and electric motor implementations, and real-time sensing systems to ensure accurate placement without manual impact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional manual impacting tools (hammer/mallet) are used to install the acetabular component, then the installation process is simple and quick, but the placement precision and positioning accuracy become unpredictable and inconsistent
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional manual hammer/mallet mechanical impacting system with a controlled impactor device that delivers precise, measured forces. The impactor includes a force sensor and control system that regulates the magnitude and direction of impact forces, substituting uncontrolled manual mechanics with a controlled mechanical system that maintains precision while reducing complexity of the overall process.
Solution Approach 2:
The impactor device incorporates force sensors and control systems that provide real-time feedback on the impact forces applied to the acetabular component. This feedback mechanism allows the system to monitor and adjust the impacting forces to ensure precise placement, resolving the contradiction between precision and complexity by integrating intelligent control into the installation process.
2Measurement precision
If automated or computer-assisted navigation tools are employed to determine correct orientation, then the positioning accuracy improves, but the overall installation process becomes more complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The impactor device is pre-configured with the desired orientation and placement parameters before the impacting operation. The system allows the surgeon to program the correct orientation angles and depth beforehand, and then the automated impacting process executes these pre-determined parameters, eliminating the need for complex real-time measurements during the actual installation and reducing surgical time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the orientation measurement, positioning calculation, and impacting execution into a single integrated device. The impactor incorporates sensors, control systems, and impacting mechanisms in one unified tool, merging multiple functions that were previously separate (navigation tools plus manual impacting) into a single device that reduces overall process complexity and time.
3Adaptability or versatility
If large impacting forces are applied to adjust the prosthesis location, then the adjustment capability improves, but the risk of fracturing the acetabulum increases
Solution Approach 1:
The impactor device dynamically adjusts the impacting forces in real-time based on feedback from force sensors and the observed response of the acetabular component. The system can deliver high forces when needed for initial placement or adjustment, then automatically reduce forces to safe levels, providing adaptability for position adjustment while preventing bone fracture through dynamic force modulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters of the impacting forces (magnitude, duration, frequency) based on the installation stage and observed results. The control system can deliver high-magnitude impacts for initial placement, then switch to low-magnitude precise adjustments, and finally to very low forces for fine-tuning, thereby providing full adjustment range while preventing bone fracture through parameter optimization.
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
This approach enhances the likelihood of favorable outcomes in hip replacement surgeries by reducing the risk of complications, improving the accuracy of acetabular cup placement, and minimizing the risk of fracturing the acetabulum, thus providing results comparable to those of experienced surgeons.
Implementation Method 1
a sensor configured to detect forces at the prosthesis-bone interface
Implementation Method 2
vibratory motion of a prosthesis to be installed
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for allowing any surgeon, including those surgeons who perform a fewer number of a replacement procedure as compared to a more experienced surgeon who performs a greater number of procedures, to provide an improved likelihood of a favorable outcome approaching, if not exceeding, a likelihood of a favorable outcome as performed by a very experienced surgeon with the replacement procedure. Force sensing is included to aid in quantifying installation of an implant, particularly a cup into a pelvic bone.