Quantifying osteosynthesis plate prominence - mathematical definitions and case study on a clavicle plate

Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Engin. 2023 Jun;26(8):917-926. doi: 10.1080/10255842.2022.2098676. Epub 2022 Jul 14.

Abstract

Hardware prominence remains a clinical challenge in focus for implant design in subcutaneous plate applications. Existing evaluation of hardware prominence relies on plate-to-bone distance at a single point or on average. A reproducible measure for plate prominence remains undefined. This study mathematically defines the plate prominence linked to the cross-sectional area change due to the plate presence on the bone. Two anatomical plate designs were fitted to 100 clavicles, and afterwards plate prominence parameters were evaluated and compared. This methodology enables the quantification of hardware prominence for different plate designs to inform the development of implants targeting low prominence.

Keywords: Plate prominence; clavicle fit; hardware prominence; maximum distance.

MeSH terms

  • Bone Plates
  • Clavicle / surgery
  • Fracture Fixation, Internal / methods
  • Fractures, Bone* / surgery
  • Humans
  • Retrospective Studies