Patent Application
20070289067
a and 6b illustrate fluid conduit patterns from the pressure provider device to the bladders as used in the prior art.
a and 12b illustrate an alternative embodiment of the present invention regarding the additional bladder.
The mattress 100 and all the components described above are used in the present invention. The present invention is a modification of the prior art mattress 100.
A potential problem with the prior art mattress 100 described above is that the vertical patient load increases to a point where the patient bottoms out. “Bottoms out” means a portion 88 of a mattress 100 has little to no air at the location where a portion of the patient's body 20 is positioned, as illustrated in
Bottoming out is undesirable because the patient's skin is subject to pressure from the mattress support apparatus 101 and possibly other undesirable forces. The support apparatus 101 is designed to support a mattress 100 and a patient, not provide the desired pressure to the patient. Bottoming out increases the pressure applied to the patient's skin. That undesired pressure can cause unwanted bed sores or equivalents thereof.
Another potential problem with the prior art mattress is that during the gatching process from a supine configuration toward the cardiac chair configuration, the tissue interface pressure distribution experienced by the patient shifts. The tissue interface pressure distribution shifts, typically (but not exclusively) from the shoulders, back and sacrum areas to almost exclusively the sacrum area. As the sacrum typically represents a lower proportion of the patient's surface area, the tissue interface pressure experienced by the patient on the mattress 100 increases to the point that pressure relief cannot be sustained, or pressure reduction cannot be achieved.
The present invention is directed to controlling the pressure within the mattress' bladders as the mattress is in the gatching process and/or not in the supine position. That control is designed to decrease the chance of bottoming out and/or obtaining desired pressure reduction.
The first method to decrease those problems is to modifying the analyzer 150, the sensors, and the pressure provider device 170.
The pressure sensors 152, 154 measure the pressure within, entering and/or exiting the bladders 112, 114, 140, 141. It has been determined that to decrease the chance of the cited problems that the bladder pressure must be measured and the mattress geometry must be determined. The mattress geometry is determined by a geometry sensor system 200. An example of the geometry sensor system 200 is illustrated in
By measuring the pressure and determining the mattress geometry, the present invention is able to dynamically alter the support surface pressure in response to different gatch positions of the surgical bed. This is important since using pressure transducers alone to sense the pressure and react accordingly has been determined to be insufficient. It is insufficient because the pressure transducers have no way of knowing what the geometrical patient position is. In order to achieve this dynamic control, it is necessary to use geometry sensor(s) (for the positioning of the mattress) in conjunction with the pressure sensors. The angle (geometry) sensors could be, by way of example but without limitation, accelerometers of mechanical ball-in-bowl type magnetic devices. Types of such devices are giant magento-resistive devices and Hall effect field sensors.
Hall effect field sensors detect change in the characteristics of a magnetic field generated by the repositioning of the mattress. A magnet 210 is positioned apart from a distance measuring sensor 212. For example the magnet 210 can be positioned on the support surface's extension 108 while the geometry sensor can be positioned on the bottom side 104 of the head section 110; vice versa or equivalents thereof. Sensor 212 detects the change in position of the magnet 210 during movement of the respective mattress 100 by detecting the change in magnetic field. Based on this change in magnetic field, sensor 212 sends a signal 330 indicative of the up, down, or neutral positions of the respective mattress 100 to analyzer 150 as illustrated in
The analyzer 150 continuously monitors and adjusts the surface fluid pressure in each bladder 114, 112, 141, 140 in response to the patient and mattress geometry through signal 162 to the pressure provider device 170. Obviously, signal 162 can be numerous types of signals that allow the pressure provider device 170 to determine how much fluid should be directed and/or pulled to the respective bladder 114, 141, 140, 112. The analyzer 150, preferentially and independently, adjusts the pressure of different regions of the mattress surface in response to mattress position during the gatch process and any other time with the patient on and/or off the mattress 100.
The mattress 100 through the analyzer 150 and the pressure provider device 170 cradles the patient in the foot section 120 when the bed frame 101 is being re-positioned toward the cardiac chair position. The cradle position is similar to the bottoming out illustrated in
The bladder pressure protocol 164 can obviously be modified to obtain the desired pressure. This bladder protocol is programmed into the analyzer 150, and/or can be modified in the analyzer 150 in a similar manner that the desired angle value 162 is programmed into the analyzer 150.
The bladder pressure protocol reverts to the original firmness settings when the head of bed is reduced to <15°. This protocol could be discontinued when the patient is being rotated.
If the mattress 100 provides percussion and/or vibration modes, this protocol should be disabled when the percussion and/or vibration modes are operating. The percussion and/or vibration modes can be performed by the bladders 112, 114 if the pressure provider device 170 is programmed to direct and pull the fluid in and out of the bladders 112, 114 at specific rates to obtain the desired operational mode of vibration and/or percussion.
The present invention can have an additional bladder 250 positioned in the foot section 120 as illustrated in
It is possible that the additional bladder 250 may be incorporated into the bladders 141. The bladder 250 could have an inlet 260 that allows the fluid to enter directly from the interior of the bladders 141 as illustrated in
Conversely, if the foot section 120 is raised in relation to the support section 101, the additional bladder 250 can positioned in the head section 110 to provide additional support to the patient's back area. That alternative embodiment is illustrated generically in
The pressure provider device 170 can be positioned within the mattress 100. In this embodiment, the pressure provider device 170 may be two components. The first component 170a is positioned in the head section 110 and the second component 170b is positioned in the foot section 120. Preferably the first component 170a and the second component 170b are positioned to provide the least amount of pressure to the patient, normally the terminal ends of the head and foot sections. The first component 170a provides the desired fluid to the bladders 112, 114, 140 in the head section while the second component 170b provides the desired fluid to the bladders 141, (possibly) 250 in the foot section. Preferably, each component 170a,b is electrically interconnected 99 to (a) the other component 170a,b directly and/or (b) the analyzer 150, as illustrated in
By using an electrical connection to connect the two pressure provider devices 170a,b, the mattress 100 can be self-contained. Self-contained mattresses are desired because it decreases the kinking that occurs if fluid conduits had to traverse through the gatch area 122. If fluid conduits are kinked, the fluid conduits 118, 116 do not always provide the desired pressure to the bladders. In contrast, an electrical connection can be kinked and the kinking does not normally inhibit the transmission of the electrical signal through the kinked area. Accordingly, dividing the pressure provider device and placing each device 170a,b in two distinct sections when the mattress 100 is a self-contained mattress to decrease the adverse effects of kinking is desired.
By separating the pressure provider devices 170a,b for the respective head section 110 and foot section 120, the pressure provider devices 170a,b will provide the desired fluid to the desired bladder. When the mattress 100 is a self-contained mattress the fluid is normally air because it can be easily obtained and does not render the mattress 100 too heavy. The pressure provider device 170 is normally positioned toward an exterior side surface of the mattress as illustrated in
Each pressure provider device has an air aperture that allows air to be drawn into or expelled out of the pressure provider device. Each pressure provider device, in this embodiment, has a fan (not shown) positioned near the air aperture to draw the air into the pressure provider device. The pressure provider device has a conventional manifold system that opens and closes the numerous conduits that direct the fluid toward or away from the bladders 112, 114, 141, 140, 250 as directed by the analyzer 150.
The mattress 100 can also have a second gatch area 340 as illustrated in
The seat section 342 and the calf section 344 can be raised and/or lowered to obtain the desired shape. The seat section 342 and the calf section 344 can also have geometry sensors 200 (which include the magnet 210 and the distance measuring sensor 212) positioned thereon. For example, the geometry sensor system 200 can be positioned on the underside of the seat section, the calf section, the corresponding support structure 101, and/or the base 109 of the support structure under the foot section 120.
The geometry sensor can also be a transmission from a computer interface system of the support surface 101. If the computer interface system can determine the exact angle of the head section, the calf section and the seat section in relation to the corresponding sections, the computer interface system transmits the angle values to the analyzer 150. The computer interface system can determine the precise angle of the mattress' sections in relation to the mattress being in the supine configuration.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be clear that the invention is not so limited. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions and equivalents will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
