Patent Grant
10254727
The present specification generally relates to person support apparatuses for use in healthcare facilities and, more specifically, to person support apparatuses with mattress replacement systems or frames, and methods for controlling the same.
Individuals in health care facilities may rest on person support apparatuses that include mattress replacement systems. Caregivers may at times need to turn a resting individual to a different position and hold the resting individual at that position for a period of time. Person support apparatuses may have control boxes that include controls to start a turn and hold operation.
A need exists for alternative methods for turning and holding individuals resting on person support apparatuses in acute care settings, and apparatuses for use in performing such methods.
In one embodiment, a method for triggering a pause event in a turn and hold operation applied to a mattress replacement system of a person support apparatus may include inflating, automatically with a pump, at least one air bladder in only one of a right side portion and a left side portion of the mattress replacement system, wherein an inflation of the other of the right side portion and the left side portion is not increased; detecting, automatically with at least one sensor, a force applied to at least one of a frame of the person support apparatus and the at least one air bladder as the at least one air bladder is inflated; determining, automatically with a microcontroller communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor, if the force applied to at least one of the frame and the at least one air bladder has a force duration that is greater than a threshold force duration to trigger the pause event; and discontinuing inflation of the at least one air bladder when the pause event is triggered.
In another embodiment, a system may include a person support apparatus including at least one sensor, a frame, and a mattress, the mattress including a plurality of air bladders, wherein at least one first sensor is disposed in at least one of the mattress and the frame, and a processor communicatively coupled to a non-transitory computer storage medium and the sensor, wherein the non-transitory computer storage medium stores instructions. When the instructions are executed by the processor, the instructions may cause the processor to inflate, automatically with a pump, at least one air bladder in only one of a right side portion and a left side portion of the mattress replacement system, wherein an inflation of the other of the right side portion or the left side portion is not increased, detect, automatically with the at least one sensor, a force applied to at least one of a frame of the person support apparatus and the at least one air bladder as the at least one air bladder is inflated, determine, automatically with the processor communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor, if the force applied to at least one of the frame and the at least one air bladder has a force duration that is greater than a threshold force duration to trigger a pause event, and discontinue inflation of the at least one air bladder when the pause event is triggered.
These and additional features provided by the embodiments described herein will be more fully understood in view of the following detailed description, in conjunction with the drawings.
The embodiments set forth in the drawings are illustrative and exemplary in nature and not intended to limit the subject matter defined by the claims. The following detailed description of the illustrative embodiments can be understood when read in conjunction with the following drawings, where like structure is indicated with like reference numerals and in which:
In embodiments, a method for triggering a pause event in a turn and hold operation applied to a mattress replacement system of a person support apparatus, which includes a frame that supports the mattress replacement system, may include positioning a plurality of air bladders in both a left side and a right side of the mattress replacement system and disposing at least one first sensor in at least one of the mattress and the frame. The left side and the right side of the mattress replacement system are divided along a sagittal line. The method may further include initiating the turn and hold operation such that a selected set of the plurality of air bladders on a select one of the left side or the right side of the mattress replacement system begin to inflate and angle the mattress with respect to a normal resting position of the mattress and then pausing the turn and hold operation.
For example, to pause the turn and hold operation prior to a final position being reached, a force may be applied on the at least one first sensor to transmit an overpressure signal. When the force is applied for a set period of time while the overpressure signal is being transmitted, a pause event signal is generated. Based on the pause event signal, a microcontroller may automatically activate a pause in the turn and hold operation prior to the final position being reached such that the selected set of the plurality of air bladders are held at a paused level of inflation that is less than the level of inflation associated with the final position.
The methods and apparatuses described herein address a difficulty a caregiver may have when attempting to pause a turn and hold operation of a mattress replacement system of a person support apparatus when simultaneously stabilizing a person resting on the mattress replacement system. The methods and apparatuses described herein thus assist a caregiver with pausing a turn and hold operation without leaving the side of a person resting on a person support apparatus such that the caregiver may be able to continue, for example, holding and supporting the resting person while pausing the turn and hold operation. Methods and apparatuses for turning and holding individuals resting on person support apparatuses such as in acute care settings are further described in embodiments herein.
Referring now to
The person support apparatus 102 includes a frame 103 and a mattress replacement system 104. The mattress replacement system 104 includes a plurality of air bladders 110, with a first portion of air bladders 110 on a first half of the mattress replacement system 104 and a second portion of air bladders 110 on a second half of the mattress replacement system 104. For example, the first half of the mattress replacement system 104 may be a left side of the mattress replacement system 104 with respect to a sagittal line, axis, or plane of the mattress replacement system 104 (i.e., the line, axis, or plane extending from the head of the person support apparatus 102 to the foot of the person support apparatus 102 and bisecting the person support apparatus 102 into first and second halves). And the second half of the mattress replacement system 104 may be a right side of the mattress replacement system 104 with respect to the sagittal line, axis, or plane of the mattress replacement system 104.
In embodiments, at least a first sensor is disposed in at least one of the mattress replacement system 104 and the frame 103 of the person support apparatus 102. In embodiments, a plurality of sensors may be included in the person support apparatus 102. In embodiments, the sensors 112, and/or 114 may be disposed within, as part of, incorporated into, and/or integrated with the person support apparatus 102 and/or a person support apparatus component such as a mattress and/or frame. In embodiments, the sensors 112 and 114 are communicatively coupled to one another.
In some embodiments, the person support apparatus 102 may include load sensors 114 disposed between the frame 103 and the mattress replacement system 104. Additionally or alternatively, one or more load sensors 114 may be disposed along or within exterior portions of frame 103 such as a side rail. The various components of frame 103 may work in conjunction with one another to initiate and perform a turn and hold operation, as described in more detail below with respect to
Additionally or alternatively, the mattress replacement system 104 may include one or more sensors 112 for detecting pressure changes within the air bladders 110. In embodiments, the sensors 112 may be pressure sensors associated with one or more air bladders 110 such as sensors 112A-112C of
The sensors 112A-112C, for example, may be used to capture readings, such as air pressure readings, from the one or more air bladders 110 to measure fluctuations or changes of the pressure of the air bladders and these air pressure readings may be utilized to determine if the air pressure within the one or more air bladders 110 surpasses a threshold for a predetermined period of time. The one or more sensors 112 may be, for example, pressure transducers attached to and/or within the air bladders 110 that detect a change in pressure that surpasses a threshold for a set amount of time to activate a pause trigger.
Additionally or alternatively, the at least a first sensor may be a sensor 112 disposed in the mattress replacement system 104 of the person support apparatus 102. Sensor 112 in a mattress replacement system or mattress of the person support apparatus 102 may be, for example, a capacitive sensor that senses a level of capacitance between two metallic sheets or plates in the mattress. If a pressure is applied to a top metallic sheet, for example, it will become closer to the bottom metallic sheet such that a changeable distance between the pair of sheets is reduced and a reduction in capacitance would be measured by sensor 112.
Additionally or alternatively, the at least a first sensor may be a sensor 114 such as a load sensor disposed in the frame 103 of the person support apparatus 102 and/or between the frame 103 and the mattress replacement system 104. The sensor 114 may be part of a scale system to sense loads and measure applied forces or weights.
Referring again to
As shown in
The system 200 may be implemented with electrical components such as those shown within a communication block diagram 300 of
Referring again to
Inflation of the air bladders associated with the left side portion causes the left side portion of the mattress replacement system 104 to begin to angle with respect to the right side portion. As the angle of inclination increases, a person resting on the mattress replacement system 104 begins to turn toward the right side portion of the mattress replacement system 104. Alternatively, the right side portion may be selected such that the plurality of air bladders 110 on the right side portion of the mattress replacement system 104 begin to inflate while the plurality of air bladders 110 on the left side portion of the mattress replacement system 104 remain in the initial, normal level resting position or are slightly deflated.
When the turn and hold operation is complete (i.e., when a pre-determined level of inflation of the selected air bladders 110 is reached) the GUI 202 and microcontroller 204 hold the mattress replacement system 104 at its angled position for the pre-determined hold period of time. The hold time may be, for example, 30 minutes, or in the range of from about 15 minutes to about 45 minutes. While the hold time may be automatically pre-set, in some embodiments, a user may determine and select a hold time. The angle of inclination for the final hold position for a selected side of the mattress replacement system 104 may be, for example, in a range from about 10 degrees to about 45 degrees from horizontal. After the determined hold period of time is complete, the microcontroller 204 may cause an egress of air from the selected side of air bladders 110 through the valve 206. Such an egress action deflates the selected side of air bladders 110 until the initial, normal level resting position for the selected side of air bladders 110 is reached such that the left side portion and the right side portion of the plurality of air bladders 110 are generally level with one another.
Still referring to
Additionally or alternatively, in embodiments, if sensor 114 is a load sensor and if a load such as a pressure is applied to sensor 114 for the set amount of time as described above, the microprocessor may categorize the output of the sensor 114 as an overpressure signal OP that causes the microcontroller 204 to output a pause event signal that causes a pause in the turn and hold operation to be triggered such that the selected set of air bladders 110 are paused at a paused level of inflation.
Referring now to
In step 404, the turn and hold option may be started as described above with respect to
In step 408, based on the pause event signal, a pause of the turn and hold of a selected side of the mattress replacement system 104 is automatically activated. For example, referring to
An algorithm may be applied by the microcontroller 204 that causes the microcontroller 204 to receive the signal from the sensor and, if the signal is an overpressure signal OP and a set amount of time has elapsed after receiving the overpressure signal OP, the microcontroller 204 triggers a pause turn event signal. The pause turn event signal is transmitted by the microcontroller 204 to pause the inflation of the selected air bladders 110 on either a selected right or left side of the mattress replacement system 104 at a paused level of inflation. The caregiver may maintain the person on the person support apparatus 102 at the paused position until pressure is again applied to the sensors 112, and/or 114 for a set amount of time to de-trigger the pause event and to either continue the turn until the hold position is reached or return the mattress holding the resting individual to a normal resting position. Alternatively or additionally, the caregiver may activate a separate signal to deflate the air bladders 110 and return the mattress holding the resting individual to a normal resting position. For example, in embodiments, after pausing the turn and hold operation, or before the determined hold period of time is complete, a caregiver may activate a return to normal feature on the control box 105 to deflate the bladders as described above with respect to
In some embodiments, in step 410, a status reading of at least one of the at least one sensor and the turn and hold operation is displayed on a graphical user interface. For example, a status reading may be displayed on a GUI such as GUI 202. In embodiments, a first report of the status of the turn and hold operation is displayed on a graphical user interface and may indicate angle with respect to the normal resting position, whether a pause has been activated, and a period of time the turn and hold operation has been operating. Further, one or more alerts may be generated when the pause event signal is generated that pauses the turn and hold operation. A user may then have an additional indication that the pause request was received and is being automatically activated to assist the user or caregiver with support in caring for an individual on the person support apparatus 102. In some embodiments, one or more alerts may be generated when at least one of the turn and hold operation is initiated, the pause in the turn and hold operation is automatically activated, and the hold position is reached.
Thus, through the methods and apparatuses described herein, a caregiver may maintain contact with an individual resting in the person support apparatus 102 while a turn and hold operation is ongoing and when the caregiver wishes to activate a pause turn assist functionality. For example, while maintaining a grip by both hands on the resting individual, the caregiver may use an elbow to apply force to the sensor 112, 112A, 112B, 112C, and/or 114 for a period of 5 seconds to activate the pause trigger and thus automatically activate a pause turn event such that the selected air bladders 110 stop inflating and are held in a paused, inflated state prior to reaching a level of inflation associated with the final hold position. Or the caregiver may maintain a one-handed grip on the patient with a first hand while applying a force or pressure on the sensor 112, 112A, 112B, 112C, and/or 114 via a second hand. Regardless of the method of actuation, the systems described herein may effectively transform at least a selected set of air bladders into large sensors which can be manipulated to pause the turn and hold operation without having to leave the side of the patient.
It is noted that the terms “substantially” and “about” may be utilized herein to represent the inherent degree of uncertainty that may be attributed to any quantitative comparison, value, measurement, or other representation. These terms are also utilized herein to represent the degree by which a quantitative representation may vary from a stated reference without resulting in a change in the basic function of the subject matter at issue.
While particular embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be understood that various other changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed subject matter. Moreover, although various aspects of the claimed subject matter have been described herein, such aspects need not be utilized in combination. It is therefore intended that the appended claims cover all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of the claimed subject matter.
The present specification claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/171,052, filed Jun. 4, 2015 and entitled “FEEDBACK CONTROL FOR A PERSON SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH A MATTRESS REPLACEMENT SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR AUTOMATICALLY PAUSING A TURN AND HOLD OPERATION,” the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20110047703 | Tarsaud | Mar 2011 | A1 |
| 20150164236 | Driscoll, Jr. | Jun 2015 | A1 |
| 20160058641 | Moutafis | Mar 2016 | A1 |
| 20180153310 | Thomas | Jun 2018 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20160353900 A1 | Dec 2016 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62171052 | Jun 2015 | US |
