Patent Application
20100242177
This invention relates to medical treatment tables and their accessories, and particularly to devices used to support and immobilize the whole or part of a patient's anatomy during surgery or other treatment on a tiltable table.
Surgical and other medical treatment tables are often provided with bracing and immobilizing accessories used to restrain the movement of the whole or part of a patient's body particularly under conditions where the body support table is tilted in a Trendelenburg or other longitudinal or lateral position in order to provide more convenient or comfortable access to part of the patent's anatomy. Some examples of this type of bracing and restraining devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,073 Nordan et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,622,324 Van Steenburg et. al., both of which are incorporated herein by this reference, the latter being the most advanced representation of the current state of the art. In that most recent example, the padded barriers that are applied against the patient's body are held by one or more elongated arms whose opposite ends are secured to accessories-mounting rails running along the sides of the operating table. Due to their relative lengths these elongated arms act as levers subject to considerable torquing forces. These forces have a negative impact on the stability of the structure and contribute to rapid wear of the locking components. The adjustment of the positions of the various padded barriers typically requires time-consuming manipulation of a number of knobs and levers and necessitates the use of both hands. The length, bulkiness and complexity of the bracing and restraining structures will often interfere with the physician's access to the body and with the cables, conducts and controls for life support and/or other peripheral equipment.
The instant invention results from an attempt to provide a more sturdy, yet compact bracing and restraining device that can be quickly and accurately positioned on a surgical or other form of treatment table and adjusted single-handedly.
The principal and secondary objects of the invention are to provide an improved bracing device. These and other objects are achieved by an adjustable barrier according to the invention.
In some embodiments there is provided, in association with a medical treatment table, an accessory for bracing or restraining the movement of a patient's body lying over the top surface of the table comprises a yoke transversally spanning said top surface and being secured at both ends to accessory-mounting rails running along the side of the table. In some embodiments the yoke includes a track or channel extending horizontally over said top surface and a shuttle engaged in the track or channel. In some embodiments a carriage in the form of an angled bracket has an horizontal plate releasably secured to the shuttle by a single knobbed screw, and a vertical arm mounting a padded barrier. In some embodiments by manipulation of the knobbed screw, the carriage and barrier can be adjustably translated along lengths of the track or channel and immobilized in a particular orientation that places the padded barrier against a part of the body. In some embodiments multiple barriers can be so mounted along the track or channel. In some embodiments a headrest is secured to the top surface over a median portion of the yoke.
In some embodiments, in the basic configuration, the device comprises a transversal track extending horizontally over the tables top surface and secured at opposite ends to fixation means associated with the side of the table. In some embodiments one or more carriages are slidingly translatable along a length of the track are adjustably rotatable about a substantially vertical axis perpendicular to the track. In some embodiments a padded barrier projects laterally from each of the carriages.
In some embodiments a pair of carriages and barriers are used. In some embodiments each carriage comprise a means for locking the carriage in a stable position along the length of the channel. In some embodiments the carriage also includes means for immobilizing the barrier in a desired orientation about a vertical axis. In some embodiments the carriage further comprises a hand-tightenable means for simultaneously operating the means for locking and the means for immobilizing. In some embodiments the track comprises a channel, and the carriage comprises a shuttle slidingly engaged into the channel. In some embodiments the track further comprises a yoke which is secured to the fixation means and supports the channel. In some embodiments the barrier preferably comprises a turn-plate rotatively connected to the shuttle. In some embodiments the means for locking and means for immobilizing comprise a knob having a threaded stem extending axially thereof, passing through a hole in the carriage and screwingly engaging a threaded bore in the shuttle.
In some embodiments, the device for restraining the movement of a body lying over the top surface of an operating table wherein the table includes accessory-mounting rails along the side thereof, comprises a yoke extending horizontally over said surface and being securable at each end to one of the accessory-mounting rails, a channel formed along the yoke, at least one carriage slidingly translatable along lengths of the channel, and a barrier projecting laterally from the carriage.
In some embodiments the carriage comprises a shuttle slidingly engaged into the channel, and said barrier comprises a plate rotatively adjustable about a substantially vertical axis perpendicular to the channel. In some embodiments the carriage further comprises a threaded stem projecting axially from the knob passing through a hole in the plate and engaging a threaded bore in the shuttle. In some embodiments the device preferably includes means for limiting rotational movement of the plate about the vertical axis. In some embodiments the device includes a headrest secured over a median portion of the yoke. In some embodiments the barrier comprises a padded vertical surface. In some embodiments the device does not include any barrier-mounting post or lever extending above the top surface of the table.
Referring now to the drawing, there is shown in
In
As illustrated in
The support member 31 is surrounded by a sleeve 34 having longitudinal slots 35, 36 cut into its upper wall region 67. The slots 35, 36 form channels into which a shuttle 37 is normally free to slide along the elongated support member 31. It should be understood that one or more channels can alternatively be formed into the support member 31 itself, instead of by means of a sleeve, or by another equivalent means to slidingly hold the shuttle 37.
A padded barrier 38 is attached to the vertical part 39 of an angled bracket 40. A horizontal part 41 of the bracket forms a turn-plate that is rotatively secured to the shuttle 37 through one of the slots 36. This securing is accomplished by a single screw assembly comprising a threaded stem 42 projecting axially from a knob 43, passing through a hole 44 in the center of the turn-plate 41 and engaging a threaded bore 45 in the shuttle 37. The threading of the stem is preferably multi-lead so as to allow for rapid actuation. Alternately, the stem 42 may be secured at its lower extremity to the shuttle 37, then engaged at its upper end through an axial threaded bore in the knob 43.
A hand-tightenable mechanism for simultaneously locking the turn-plate 41 and padded barrier 38 at a desired location along length of the channel-defining sleeve 34 and immobilizing the barrier at a desired orientation about the vertical axis X-X′ perpendicular to the sleeve 34 is enhanced by a skirted washer 46 engaged by the threaded stem 42 and bearing upon the edges of the slot 36.
In order to limit the range of rotation of the barrier about the axis X-X′ a plate 47 comprising a skirt 48 tangentially welded to the edge of a disk 49 is inserted between the turn-plate 41 and the sleeve 34. The skirt 48 bears against the side of the sleeve preventing any rotation of the plate 47. A nib 50 projecting upwardly from the top surface of the disk 49 engages an arcuate slot 51 in the turn-plate. The angular span of the arcuate slot 51 determines the range of rotational orientation of the barrier 38.
The knob 43, stem 42, skirted washer 46, turn-plate 41 and a range-limiting disk 49 of the screw assembly can be prevented from axial separation by a retaining snap ring 65 engaging a radial groove 66 in the stem. In this way, the padded barrier 38 along with its associated bracket 40 and screw assembly can be rapidly removed and replaced as a unitary piece.
It should be understood that a second barrier and locking mechanism assembly can similarly be mounted through the second slot 35 of the sleeve 34 as shown in
As illustrated in this
The total absence of any vertical post or horizontal arm extending substantially above the surface 11 of the table that could interfere with the physician's access to the body should be noted. Further the upper wall region 67 of the sleeve 34 and the flattened median portion 63 present a substantially planar upper surface of the yoke to minimize interference when the barriers are removed. A sloping transition 68 between the upper wall region and the flattened median portion reduces the likelihood of items snagging on the devices as patients and other objects are being repositioned over the table.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, modifications can be made and other embodiments may be devised without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Utility Patent Application Ser. No. 61/101,526 filed 2008-09-30.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61101526 | Sep 2008 | US |
