The Development of an Endoscope-Assisted iMET to Improve the Distal Screw Hole Positioning Efficacy in Interlocking Nailing Procedures

Intramedullary nailing surgery is a pioneer indicator of surgical miniaturization such as traditional migration techniques Hand-Off Location, Fluoroscopic C-Arm Free Hand Method (FHM), Target Aiming Devices, Internal Drilling System, Magnetic, Electromagnetic Induction, Computer Navigation System and Light Transmission Method (screw hole positioning using a visible light source). It has been shown that intramedullary nailing surgery can be performed through intramedullary transillumination and intra-Medullary Endo-Transilluminating (iMET) Device for distal screw hole targeting. iMET is operated by a visible light source to shorten the operation time, increase positioning accuracy, avoid X-ray radiation exposure, and improve the drilling success rate. By adopting the endoscopic technology, it is expected to further improve the efficacy of the distal screw hole positioning in an intramedullary nailing surgery. In this research, a set of 2–4 LED light sources are used to establish pipeline access with an endoscope powered by a high-capacity lithium battery. With modular design such as wireless transmission, to refine the above mentioned four advantages in an intramedullary nailing surgery. Through the use of phantom and animal trials, we will show the improved surgical efficacy using the proposed design.