Drill Guide/Suture Passer for Posterior Approach Total Hip Soft Tissue Repair

Background:

The posterior approach to the hip for total hip replacement as well as trauma, pediatric orthopedic surgery, and tumors is the most common approach for total hip arthroplasties. However, the performance of this surgery carries risks given the lack of a devoted and standardized instrument to assist in repairing the soft tissues over the hip joint before closure, leaving room for mistakes given that the repair is operator dependent.

Technology Overview:

Upstate Medical University Orthopedic Surgeons have designed a device that features a drill guide and suture passer for posterior approach total hip arthroplasty. The device will facilitate hole drilling, as well as passing and tying sutures over the desired tissues. This will eliminate the need to visually decide where to place the drill to make the holes, as well as manually passing the suture passer through the holes to repair the tissues of the surgery for a faster, more precise, and easier procedure, which could reduce the total time of surgery, minimize risk of posterior hip dislocation and may decrease patient recovery time.

Advantages:

•    Sterilizable metallic surgical instrument for repetitive use.
•    Less variability of results due to user experience level.
•    Expedites closure process, minimizing post-operative risks.

Intellectual Property Summary:

Patent Pending US 18/236,641

Stage of Development:

TRL 3 - Experimental proof of concept

Licensing Status:

This technology is available for licensing.