Patent Application
20210275375
Patient positioners are widely used during surgeries, patient recovery and rehabilitation. The positioners are used to position, bolster and support the patient at nearly every part of the patient anatomy. For instance, positioners are widely used to support a patient's upper and lower back, neck, hips, knees and ankles.
The prevalent positioners are in the form of “sandbags”, namely elongated bodies of various sizes depending upon the part of the patient anatomy being supported and the size of the patient. The sandbags are filled with a gel that can provide support for the affected part of the body. The outer casing of the sandbags are typically a vinyl or polyurethane material that is impervious to body fluids. The outer casing aids in the overall rigidity of the sandbag when filled with the gel, providing significant support but at the cost of patient comfort. The typical sandbag positioner allows, at best, for only minimal immersion of the patient's body into the positioner, which can be uncomfortable for the patient during long term use. Consequently, there is a need for a patient positioner that comfortably supports the patient and relieves the pressure on the patient generated by the conventional gel-filled sandbags.
A gas-filled patient positioner for positioning a body part of a patient comprises a plurality of bladder structures mounted on top of and overlapping each other. Each bladder structure includes a pair of adjacent elongated gas-filled bladders with the inboard side of each of the bladders facing or abutting each other. At least one bleed channel is provided in communication between the pair of bladders, in which the bleed channel extends transverse to the length between the inboard sides of the bladders.
The patient positioner is further provided with an elongated outer covering configured for completely covering and tightly encasing the plurality of bladder structures. The outer covering includes an array of seams that define channels in top and bottom surfaces of the covering to provide pathways for heat and moisture to escape between the body part of the patient resting on the positioner and the outer surface. In one feature, the array of seams includes a single seam extending along the length of the bladder structures and arranged over the bleed channel, and a plurality of transverse seams extending across a width of the top and bottom surfaces perpendicular to the length, with the plurality of transverse seams spaced apart along the length.
In one aspect, the plurality of bladder structures includes upper, intermediate and lower bladder structures that directly overlap each other. The intermediate and lower bladder structures are air-filled at the same pressure, while the upper bladder structure is air-filled at a lower pressure.
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and described in the following written specification. It is understood that no limitation to the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. It is further understood that the present disclosure includes any alterations and modifications to the illustrated embodiments and includes further applications of the principles disclosed herein as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which this disclosure pertains.
A gas-filled positioner 10 includes an outer covering 11 formed of a vinyl, nylon or polyurethane material, as shown in
In one aspect of the disclosure, the positioner 10 includes three bladder structures, including an upper bladder structure 15a, an intermediate structure 15b and a lower bladder structure 15c, all of which are completely encased within the outer covering. Each bladder structure includes a pair of gas-filled bladders 16a, 16b arranged side-to-side across the width W of the positioner, or more particularly with their respective inboard sides 18 facing each other or in contact with each other. The bladder pairs are also mounted vertically on top of and overlapping each other. The bladders can be formed of an elastomeric material that can expand upon inflation and that can be depressed by weight of the patient's body. In specific embodiments, the bladders can be formed of PVC or other vinyl, polyurethane, or a laminated fabric such as nylon.
All of the bladders are inflated, with the outer covering tightly encasing the inflated bladder structures. In order to facilitate immersion of the part of the patient's body into the positioner, the upper bladder structure is inflated to a lower pressure than the other two bladder structures. This feature allows the patient's body to gradually sink into the positioner, while the lower two bladder structures provide the necessary support. This immersion feature greatly increases the comfort to the patient over the prior gel sandbag devices. In one specific embodiment, the bladders of the upper bladder structure 15a are all inflated to less than 0.5 psi, while the bladders of the lower two bladder structures 15b, 15c are all inflated to at least 0.5 psi. In certain embodiments, the lower bladders can be inflated to a predetermined multiple of the inflation pressure of the upper bladder structure.
The positioner 10 also includes a feature that allows the positioner to accept the patient's body in all possible orientations while still maintaining support. One problem associated with gas bladder structures is that the bladder can “balloon” at one end when the patient rests his/her leg, for example, on an opposite end of the bladder. This movement compromises the ability of the positioner to properly position and adequately support. In order to avoid this problem, the positioner 10 of the present disclosure utilizes pairs of bladders 16a, 16b at each level with one or more bleed channels 17 defined between the pair of bladders, as shown in
This feature of the positioner 10 allows the patient's body to gradually settle into the positioner, maintaining stability during the entire process. The bleed channel(s) 17 is provided between the bladders in each of the bladder structures 15a, 15b, 15c, with the cross-section of the bleed channel(s) being the same or different among the three levels. It can be appreciated that the upper bladder structure 15a will permit more immersion than the lower two structures because the upper bladder pair 16a, 16b is at a lower pressure than the other two bladder pairs. In one embodiment, each bladder pair 16a, 16b includes one, two or three bleed channels evenly distributed along the length of the bladders, although more bleed channels may be provided for positioners that are particularly long. The total cross-sectional area of the combined bleed channels can be calibrated to control the rate of gas flow from one bladder to the other. In one embodiment utilizing a single bleed channel, the cross-sectional area can be 0.1-0.15 sq.in. In other embodiments, the total cross-sectional area of the bleed channels can be 0.2-0.5 sq. in.
In one embodiment, the positioner 10 is completely sealed, meaning that the bladder structures do not include any inflation port. The bladders are completely sealed so that no gas can leak from the positioner, thereby compromising the function of the device. In one embodiment, the bladders are inflated with air. However, other inert gases may be used, such as nitrogen. In other embodiments, one or more of the bladder structures can include inflation ports to allow customization of the inflation pressures for patient-specific comfort.
As reflected in
The present disclosure should be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character. It is understood that only certain embodiments have been presented and that all changes, modifications and further applications that come within the spirit of the disclosure are desired to be protected.
This application is a utility filing from and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/985,619, filed on Mar. 5, 2020, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62985619 | Mar 2020 | US |
