Patent ID: 8460345

Claim:
A method comprising: determining a load to be supported across separated bone regions by a bridge region of a bone plate; determining an acceptable cut force (CF) for the bridge region; determining a cross-sectional area (a) of the bridge region based on the determined load; determining a height (h) and a width (w) of the bridge region based on the following equation: CF = ( ( S ⁢ ⁢ 1 ) ⁢ ( a ) + C ⁢ ⁢ 1 ) ⁢ ( w h max ) S ⁢ ⁢ 2 wherein “S 1 ,” “C 1 ,” and “S 2 ” are constants for a given bridge material, constant “S 1 ” is a slope of a curve defined by a range of cut force versus cross-sectional area, constant “C 1 ” is a Y-intercept of the curve, and constant “S 2 ” is a slope of Ln (ARF) versus Ln (aspect ratio), wherein “ARF” is an aspect ratio factor that is defined by: ARF = CF ⁢ ⁢ 1 ( CF ⁢ ⁢ 1 + CF ⁢ ⁢ 2 ) / 2 wherein (h max ) is a maximum height of the bridge region, “CF 1 ” is a first cut force associated with one of the width (w) and the maximum height (h max ) of the bridge region, “CF 2 ” is a second cut force associated with the other of the width (w) and the maximum height (h max ), and the aspect ratio is a ratio between the maximum height (h max ) and the width (w); and providing a bone plate including a bridge region having the height (h) and width (w) for securing the separated bone regions.