Orthopedic bone fixation systems and methods

Abstract

The orthopedic systems are patient-specific and provided with two types of features for positioning and/or fixing the plate to the bone or bone fragments. A method for generating bone plates comprises: generating a model of the bone defect or envisaged osteotomy based on one or more images of the bone and the surgical plan; designing based on said model a model corresponding to the envisioned repair of said bone defect/envisaged result of the osteotomy; generating a bone plate based on the information above, comprising: one or more patient-specific features corresponding to the surface of a bone fragment in the area close to the defect; and one or more fixation features whose position and/or orientation is such that the fixation elements will enter the bone in areas suitable for fixing the bone plate to each bone fragment.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A bone plate for use in orthopedic surgery, comprising:
 a support structure;   one or more patient-specific features configured to be positioned on a bone;   one or more fixation features configured to fix the bone plate onto the bone; and   one or more positioning elements configured to position the bone plate onto the bone.   
     
     
         2 . The bone plate according to  claim 1 , wherein the positioning elements are selected from the group consisting of a non-threaded pin, a non-threaded peg or a non-threaded hook. 
     
     
         3 . The bone plate according to  claim 1 , wherein the bone plate comprises a first patient-specific feature of the one or more patient-specific features corresponding to a feature of a first bone fragment of the bone and a second patient-specific feature of the one or more patient-specific features corresponding to a second bone fragment of the bone. 
     
     
         4 . The bone plate according to  claim 1 , wherein the supporting structure has a varying thickness, including an area of increased thickness around an osteotomy or fracture plane. 
     
     
         5 . The bone plate according to  claim 1 , wherein the bone plate comprises at least two positioning elements of the one or more positioning elements that extend from a surface of the support structure. 
     
     
         6 . The bone plate according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more positioning elements is detachable. 
     
     
         7 . The bone plate according to  claim 1 , wherein a size of the bone plate and a position of the one or more positioning elements are determined according to a pre-operative plan. 
     
     
         8 . The bone plate according to  claim 1 , wherein the support structure comprises a first part and a second part, each part comprising fixation features, and wherein the first part and the second part are configured to be combined and attached to each other in order to form a one-piece bone plate after placement on the bone. 
     
     
         9 . A method for generating a patient-specific bone plate, the method comprising:
 generating a bone model of a bone based on one or more images of the bone, wherein the bone model includes one of a bone defect or a planned osteotomy;   designing, based on the bone model, a bone plate model; and   generating a bone plate, comprising:
 a support structure; 
 one or more patient-specific features configured to be positioned on a bone; 
 one or more fixation features configured to fix the bone plate onto the bone; and 
 one or more positioning elements configured to position the bone plate onto the bone. 
   
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein at least one of the one or more positioning elements extends from a surface of the support structure. 
     
     
         11 . A method for fixating a bone plate to one or more bone fragments of a bone, the method comprising:
 drilling holes into one or more of the bone fragments of the bone, wherein the holes are configured to receive one or more positioning elements of the bone plate;   repositioning the one or more bone fragments into a correct position for healing;   positioning the bone plate on the one or more bone fragments using the positioning elements, wherein the bone plate comprises:
 a support structure; 
 one or more patient-specific features configured to be positioned on the one or more bone fragments; 
 one or more fixation features configured to fix the bone plate onto the one or more bone fragments; and 
 one or more positioning elements configured to position the bone plate onto the one or more bone fragments; 
   fixing the bone plate to the one or more bone fragments using the one or more fixation features on the bone plate.   
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein repositioning the bone fragments into the correct position for healing comprises:
 fixing the bone plate onto a first bone fragment of the one or more bone fragments;   using the bone plate as a hinge to further position the bone plate onto a second bone fragment of the one or more bone fragments.