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Sterile temporary plate fixation clamps

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Develop a sterilized and reusable clamp to hold medical plates in place during orthopedic surgeries.

Project Overview

In open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) surgery, bone clamps are necessary in order to stabilize both portions of a fracture while drilling in a bone plate to avoid slippage and erroneous attachment. It has been found that current bone clamping instruments are inefficient and difficult to use. Work has been done in previous semesters to provide a disposable clamp that utilizes a zip-tie to provide a clamping force and a tab that locks on to the bone plate to guide the drill through the holes of the bone plate. However, this design did not provide the desired adaptability to all brands, makes, and models of bone plates. Therefore, a new approach to the design is required to make the bone clamp more suitable to all types of plates. This new design will still employ a zip-tie to provide a clamping force but will also feature a new method of alignment that can be easily adjusted to fit the plate being used. Finally, this device will optimize a 3D printed material to allow the device to be produced easily and at low cost while retaining the necessary mechanical properties required for an ORIF procedure.

Team Picture

Team Photo (left to right: Yiwei Dong, Sam Christopherson, Alex Blaylock, Anya Hadim, Ray Steinlage, Calvin Duffy)
Team Photo (left to right: Yiwei Dong, Sam Christopherson, Alex Blaylock, Anya Hadim, Ray Steinlage, Calvin Duffy)

Contact Information

Team Members

  • Alex Blaylock - Co-Team Leader
  • Sam Christopherson - Co-Team Leader
  • Ray Steinlage - Communicator
  • Anya Hadim - BSAC
  • Calvin Duffy - BWIG
  • Yiwei Dong - BPAG

Advisor and Client

  • Dr. Christa Wille - Advisor
  • Dr. Ken Noonan - Client

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