BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure provides a self-adjustable pectus reconstruction system having a self- adjustable structure that can be self-stretching when a patient breathes and providing an expanded space to avoid growth limitation.

2. Description of Related Art

Pectus excavatum is a congenital disease because of an abnormal hyperplasia of cartilago costalis on the both sides of sternum and leads to a concave sternum; when the symptom is severe, it will oppress the heart and lungs leading to abnormal conditions such as dyspnea, chest pain, cardiopulmonary dysfunction and the like. Commonly, cardiopulmonary dysfunction is less found in childhood, whereas it becomes severe in adolescence.

A traditional treatment is to remove the deformation of cartilago costalis so as to regenerate cartilago costalis and elevate the concave sternum simultaneously. Nowadays, the traditional treatment is replaced by a minimally invasive surgery; a tailor-made metal plate is placed behind the sternum in order to push out the concave sternum and cartilage costalis without resection surgery, and the metal plate should be retained in the body for at least 2 to 4 years before removal.

However, most of the orthopedic internal fixation implants cannot automatically adjust the length, size, and position to conform to human growth or the respiratory changes without affecting clinical functions; therefore, it causes discomfort after implantation and even needs re-implantation to conform to patient's body growth. Accordingly, it is necessary to develop a bone orthopedic appliance which is self-adjustable to conform to patient's growth or respiratory changes.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides a self-adjustable pectus reconstruction system having a self-adjustable structure that can be self-stretching and reduce the patient's pain and foreign body sensation when the patient breathes. In addition, since many patients receiving pectus excavatum correction surgeries are children and young people, the present disclosure having the self-adjustable structure can provide an expanded space to avoid growth limitation. Meanwhile, the fixing unit of the present disclosure can be arc-shaped for conforming to ergonomics to avoid foreign body sensation and the risk of patient's skin extrusion.

The present disclosure provides a self-adjustable pectus reconstruction system, comprising: a pectus reconstruction bar having a first end and a first slot disposed on the first end; a first fixing unit having a first channel; and a first connector, wherein the first end of the pectus reconstruction bar is assembled on the first channel of the first fixing unit, and the first connector passes through the first slot to combine the pectus reconstruction bar with the first fixing unit, such that the first slot is capable of sliding back and forth around the first connector. The first fixing unit further comprises a first through-hole, and the system is fixed to a tissue by the first through-hole of the first fixing unit. The system further comprises a second fixing unit and a second connector, and the second fixing unit is combined with the pectus reconstruction bar by the second connector. An extended direction of the first slot is parallel to a longitudinal direction of the pectus reconstruction bar. The pectus reconstruction bar comprises an arc-shaped structure to fit patient's shape of sternum.

The present disclosure further provides a self-adjustable pectus reconstruction system, comprising a pectus reconstruction bar having a second end and a second slot disposed on the second end, wherein the second fixing unit has a second channel, and wherein the second end of the pectus reconstruction bar is assembled on the second channel of the second fixing unit, and the second connector passes through the second slot to combine the pectus reconstruction bar with the second fixing unit, such that the second slot is capable of sliding back and forth around the second connector. The second fixing unit further comprises a second through-hole, and the system is fixed to a tissue by the second through-hole of the second fixing unit. An extended direction of the second slot is parallel to a longitudinal direction of the pectus reconstruction bar.

Since the pectus reconstruction system needs to be placed in patient's body for a long period of time, the present disclosure has taken patients' needs into consideration. The self-adjustable pectus reconstruction system provided by the present disclosure has a self- adjustable structure that can adjust its structure when the patient is breathing, and the slot can slide back and forth around the connector according to the movement of sternum, and adjust the length of the system automatically so as to reduce pain and foreign body sensation. In addition, the self-adjustable structure also provides the patient with an expanded space to avoid growth limitation.

In a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the first and second fixing units of the self-adjustable pectus reconstruction system may optionally have an arc-shaped structure for fitting patient's sternum to avoid foreign body sensation. In the self-adjustable pectus reconstruction system, the first fixing unit and the second fixing unit are hermetic to prevent human tissue from migrating into the first fixing unit and the second fixing unit that causes a system failure or difficulty of removing the system afterwards.

In addition, the present disclosure further provides a method for reconstructing pectus excavatum by using the aforementioned self-adjustable pectus reconstruction system. The method of the present disclosure may comprise the following steps: providing the aforementioned self-adjustable pectus reconstruction system; passing the pectus reconstruction bar behind patient's deformed sternum; rotating the pectus reconstruction bar whereby the deformed sternum is raised into a desired position; and fixing the pectus reconstruction bar onto the patient's bone through the fixing unit.

Other objects, advantages, and features of the disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a system diagram according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an assembly diagram according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of one end of the system according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of one end of the system according to

Embodiment 2 of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a fixing unit according to Embodiment 3 of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a pectus reconstruction bar according to Embodiment 4 of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing correction of pectus excavatum according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing correction of pectus excavatum according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

Although the present disclosure has been explained in relation to its embodiments, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as hereinafter claimed.

In addition, ordinal numbers such as "first," "second" and the like used in the specification and claims for modifying elements do not mean and represent that the claimed elements have any antecedent ordinal number, nor do they represent the order (or order of production) between a claimed element and another claimed element. The ordinal numbers are only used to clearly distinguish certain claimed elements having the same name.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 is an assembly diagram of FIG. 1 ; FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of a first end of the system; FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing correction of pectus excavatum; and FIG. 8 is another schematic diagram showing correction of pectus excavatum.

A self-adjustable pectus reconstruction system 100 of the present embodiment comprises: a pectus reconstruction bar 1 having a first end 101 and a first slot 11 disposed on the first end 101; a first fixing unit 2 having a first channel 21; and a first connector 3, wherein the first end 101 of the pectus reconstruction bar 1 is assembled on the first channel 21 of the first fixing unit 2, and the first connector 3 passes through the first slot 11 to combine the pectus reconstruction bar 1 with the first fixing unit 2, such that the first slot 11 of the pectus reconstruction bar 1 is capable of sliding back and forth around the first connector 3. The first fixing unit 2 further comprises a first through-hole 22, and the system 100 is fixed to a tissue by the first through-hole 22 of the fixing unit 2. An extended direction of the first slot 11 is parallel to a longitudinal direction of the pectus reconstruction bar 1.

The self-adjustable pectus reconstruction system 100 of the present embodiment further comprises a second fixing unit 4 and a second connector 5. The pectus reconstruction bar 1 further comprises a second end 102 and a second slot 12 disposed on the second end 102, and the second fixing unit 4 has a second channel 41, wherein the second end 102 of the pectus reconstruction bar 1 is assembled on the second channel 41 of the second fixing unit 4, and the second connector 5 passes through the second slot 12 to combine the pectus reconstruction bar 1 with the second fixing unit 4, such that the second slot 12 of the pectus reconstruction bar 1 is capable of sliding back and forth around the second connector 5. Furthermore, an extended direction of the second slot 12 is parallel to a longitudinal direction of the pectus reconstruction bar 1. The second fixing unit 4 further comprises a second through-hole 42, and the system 100 is fixed to a tissue by the second through-hole 42 of the second fixing unit 4.

Referring to FIG.7, it shows a cross sectional view of the first end 101 and the second end 102 of the present embodiment fixed to a human tissue, and the sternum is in its original position when the human body is in an expiratory state. Referring to FIG. 8, it shows a cross sectional view of the first end 101 and the second end 102 of the present embodiment fixed to a human tissue, and the sternum is raised when the human body is in an inspiratory state. Since the present disclosure has a self-adjustable structure, it can adjust its structure when the patient is breathing. The slots of the pectus reconstruction bar 1 can slide back and forth around the connectors according to the movement of sternum, thereby adjusting the length of the system automatically so as to reduce pain and foreign body sensation. In addition, the self-adjustable structure of the present disclosure can also provide the patient with an expanded space to avoid growth limitation. As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the first fixing unit 2 and the second fixing unit 4 are illustrated in cross sectional views to clearly show the relative positions between the pectus reconstruction bar 1 and the first fixing unit 2 and the second fixing unit 4. In one embodiment, the first fixing unit 2 and the second fixing unit 4 used in the patient may be represented as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. In an actual situation, the first fixing unit 2 and the second fixing unit 4 may be represented as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.

The material of the pectus reconstruction bar 1 may be selected from materials known in the art such as stainless steel, titanium alloy and the like, and the slot may be bar-shaped, e.g., in an elliptical or rectangular shape. The material of the fixing unit may be the same as or different from the material of the pectus reconstruction bar, and may be selected from materials known in the art such as stainless steel, titanium alloy and the like. The connector can be any fixing element. The first fixing unit and the second fixing unit are hermetic to prevent human tissue from migrating into the first and second fixing units that causes a system failure or difficulty of removing the system afterwards.

Embodiment 2

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of one end of the system 100 according to the present disclosure, wherein the self-adjustable pectus reconstruction system 100 of the present embodiment is similar to that of Embodiment 1 except for the following differences.

Referring to FIG. 4, in the present embodiment, the first fixing unit 2 and/or the second fixing unit (not shown) may have an arc-shaped structure if necessary. In addition, the pectus reconstruction bar 1 comprises an arc-shaped structure to fit patient's shape of sternum. When the first fixing unit 2, the second fixing unit and/or the pectus reconstruction bar 1 have an arc-shaped structure, the system 100 can fit patient's shape of sternum more to avoid foreign body sensation and the risk of patient's skin extrusion.

Embodiment 3

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a fixing unit of the present disclosure. As shown in FIGs. 1 through 4, the first through-hole 22 of the first fixing unit 2 and/or the second through-hole 42 of the second fixing unit 4 can be plural according to the pectus reconstruction system 100 in Embodiment 1 or Embodiment 2. In the present embodiment, the first through-hole 62 of the first fixing unit 6 and/or the second through-hole of the second fixing unit (not shown) can be plural and disposed on both ends of the fixing unit 6. The amount and installation position of the through-holes of the first fixing unit 6 and/or the second fixing unit are not particularly limited, as long as they can fix the system 100 to a tissue. Embodiment 4

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the pectus reconstruction bar 1 according to the present disclosure, wherein the self-adjustable pectus reconstruction system 100 of the present embodiment is similar to Embodiment 1 except for the following differences.

Referring to FIG. 6, in the present embodiment, the pectus reconstruction bar 1 comprises a first end 101 and a first slot 11 disposed on the first end 101, whereas there is no second slot disposed on the second end 102 of the pectus reconstruction bar 1. Therefore, there is only one self-adjustable structure disposed on one end of the self-adjustable pectus reconstruction system 100 in the present embodiment. Accordingly, it is an aspect of the reconstruction system 100 that one end of the system is self-adjustable, whereas the other end is not self-adjustable. Embodiment 5

In this embodiment, a tailor-made pectus reconstruction bar of the reconstruction system is provided according to patient's anterior chest wall curvature. Further, an incision of 1.5 cm to 2 cm long on each side of the lateral chest wall is made between the anterior axillary line and the posterior axillary line, and then the self-adjustable pectus reconstruction bar is inserted behind patient's deformed sternum in order to push out the concave sternum and the deformed cartilage costalis. The pectus reconstruction bar is rotated whereby the deformed sternum is raised into a desired position, and then the bar is fixed onto patient's bone through the fixing unit. The pectus reconstruction system will be retained within the patient for 2-4 years depending on the patient's age and condition, and then be removed after the shape of the sternum is fixed.

In contrast to traditional surgery, the self-adjustable pectus reconstruction system of the present disclosure provides a minimally invasive technique with shorter operating time, smaller incision, less dissection, less sterna fracturing, less pain, quick postoperative recovery, and shorter hospital stay, and retains patient's bone elasticity of the anterior chest wall.

The self-adjustable pectus reconstruction system of the present disclosure can be self-stretching to reduce patient's pain and foreign body sensation when the patient is breathing. It also provides an expanded space to avoid patient's body growth limitation. Further, the fixing unit can be arc-shaped for conforming to ergonomics to avoid foreign body sensation and the risk of skin extrusion.

It should be appreciated that the above embodiments shall be construed as merely illustrative and not in any way to limit the remainder of the disclosure.