Disruption of the scapholunate ligament can result in significant immediate and long-term disability. Of the available current acute and subacute treatment strategies for this disorder, the use of a solid screw to stabilize the scapholunate relationship has been proposed. However, subsequent carpal bone loss is an inherent risk to this technique. The goal of this study was to design a flexible orthopedic screw that can be placed between the scaphoid and lunate to restore more normal biomechanics without the risk of osteolysis. Several ideas were generated during the course of the study to create a moveable section in a bone screw implant. Designs that met the specifications and were promising from the manufacturing point of view were tested using finite element analysis. Some designs were prototyped and one of them was tested using a cadaver wrist. Every design concept revealed some positive and negative features in terms of manufacturing and functionality. It is promising in terms of fulfilling the design requirements, but prototyping the design was very difficult. In conclusion, it can be said that the invented flexible screw techniques are sufficient to hold the scaphoid and lunate together after the scapholunate ligament injury, to restore more normal wrist biomechanics.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:vcu.edu/oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-2663 |
| Date | 19 December 2008 |
| Creators | Kabir, Seule |
| Publisher | VCU Scholars Compass |
| Source Sets | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | © The Author |
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