Patent Application
20170333270
This application relates generally to therapeutic mattress systems and more particularly to therapeutic mattress systems with low volume turning bladders.
Active therapeutic mattress systems are used for the care, support and comfort of patients. Typically, such mattresses include an air supply that selectively inflates inflatable bladders to provide various therapeutic treatments, such as turning, tilting, low air loss therapy, pulsation therapy, percussion therapy, and other dynamic therapies.
Typically, active therapeutic mattress systems with turning capabilities have used very large volume bladders and have relied on a high-volume blower to provide air to support and/or turn a patient. Such blowers are costly, noisy and inconvenient. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved therapeutic mattress system.
In an embodiment, a patient support apparatus comprises a mattress for supporting a patient, a first plurality of low-volume turning bladders disposed along a first longitudinal edge of the mattress, and a low-volume, high pressure air supply for inflating the first plurality of bladders. The air supply may supply between 0.1-100 L/min at a pressure between 1-200 mmHg.
The turning bladders may have a width between 10-25% of the width of the mattress, or between 15-20% of the width of the mattress. The turning bladders may have a length between 5-15% of the length of the mattress, or between 5-10% of the length of the mattress. The turning bladders may have a volume in an expanded condition between approximately 4-20% of a volume of the mattress, or less than approximately 10% of a volume of the mattress.
A second plurality of low-volume turning bladders may be disposed along a second longitudinal edge of the mattress. Straps may couple the mattress to a frame to prevent movement of the mattress. A manifold for fluidly coupling the plurality of bladders to the air supply may be provided. The manifold may comprise quick connection ports.
The mattress may be an inflatable mattress comprising a plurality of inflatable cushions. The mattress may comprise an upper layer of cushions coupled to a lower layer of cushions. The lower layer of cushions may be fluidly coupled to one another to form a single zone.
The upper layer of cushions may comprise multiple zones. The zones may comprise a head zone, a shoulder zone, a body zone and a foot zone. A substantially rigid platform may be disposed between the turning bladders.
The term “coupled” is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly. The terms “a” and “an” are defined as one or more unless this disclosure explicitly requires otherwise.
The terms “substantially,” “approximately,” and “about” are defined as largely but not necessarily wholly what is specified (and includes what is specified; e.g., substantially 90 degrees includes 90 degrees and substantially parallel includes parallel), as understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art. In any disclosed embodiment, the terms “substantially,” “approximately,” and “about” may be substituted with “within [a percentage] of” what is specified, where the percentage includes 0.1, 1, 5, and 10 percent.
The terms “comprise” (and any form of comprise, such as “comprises” and “comprising”), “have” (and any form of have, such as “has” and “having”), “include” (and any form of include, such as “includes” and “including”) and “contain” (and any form of contain, such as “contains” and “containing”) are open-ended linking verbs. As a result, a system, or a component of a system, that “comprises,” “has,” “includes” or “contains” one or more elements or features possesses those one or more elements or features, but is not limited to possessing only those elements or features. Likewise, a method that “comprises,” “has,” “includes” or “contains” one or more steps possesses those one or more steps, but is not limited to possessing only those one or more steps. Additionally, terms such as “first” and “second” are used only to differentiate structures or features, and not to limit the different structures or features to a particular order.
A device, system, or component of either that is configured in a certain way is configured in at least that way, but it can also be configured in other ways than those specifically described.
Any embodiment of any of the systems and methods can consist of or consist essentially of—rather than comprise/include/contain/have—any of the described elements, features, and/or steps. Thus, in any of the claims, the term “consisting of” or “consisting essentially of” can be substituted for any of the open-ended linking verbs recited above, in order to change the scope of a given claim from what it would otherwise be using the open-ended linking verb.
The feature or features of one embodiment may be applied to other embodiments, even though not described or illustrated, unless expressly prohibited by this disclosure or the nature of the embodiments.
Details associated with the embodiments described above and others are presented below.
In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which are shown exemplary but non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the invention. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those having skill in the art to practice the embodiments, and it is understood that other embodiments may be used, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the invention is defined only by the appended claims. In the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various figures unless otherwise specified.
Referring to the embodiments shown in
In an embodiment, the mattress 110 comprises an inflatable mattress, although non-inflatable mattresses may also be used. The inflatable mattress 110 is formed by a plurality of inflatable cushions 150. In the illustrated embodiment, the inflatable cushions 150 are arranged in two layers 160, 170. The bottom layer 170 of the inflatable cushions 150 may be fluidly coupled together to form one zone or more zones. In an embodiment, the bottom layer 170 comprises a single zone, which provides rigidity and pressure distribution across the entire zone. As shown in
In an embodiment, the mattress 110 is supported by a substantially rigid support platform 120. The support platform 120 provides rigidity to allow the entire mattress 110 to be moved simultaneously. The support platform 120 may be coupled to a second support platform 230 to keep the support platform 120 and mattress 110 in a desired location while in operation. In an embodiment, straps 240 are used to couple the support platform 120 to the support platform 230. Straps 240 may prevent movement of turning bladders 130 described below.
One or more turning bladders 130 are disposed along each of the longitudinal edges 250, 260 of the mattress 110. For clarity, the turning bladders 130 are only illustrated along one side 250 of the mattress 110. In an embodiment, each turning bladder has a relatively low volume as compared to the volume of the mattress 110. For example, the volume of the turning bladders 130 in an expanded condition may be between 4-20% of the mattress volume. In one embodiment, the volume of the turning bladders 130 in an expanded condition is less than 10% of the mattress volume, and in one specific embodiment the volume is about 6.5% of the mattress volume. Any number of turning bladders 130 may be used. In the illustrated embodiment, four turning bladders 130 are provided along one side 250 of the mattress 110.
In an embodiment, the turning bladders 130 are configured as columnar bladders.
In one embodiment, the turning bladders 130 are removably attached to the mattress 110 to allow individual turning bladders 130 to be replaced. In one specific embodiment, the turning bladders 130 are attached by zippers.
A fluid supply 140 is coupled to the turning bladders 130 to supply fluid to, and inflate, the turning bladders 130. In an embodiment, the fluid supply 140 is an air supply that supplies between 0.1-100 L/min at a pressure between 1-200 mmHg. Compared to conventional turning mattresses, this volume is significantly lower and the pressure is significantly higher.
The fluid supply 140 may be coupled directly to the turning bladders 130 or through tubes. In an embodiment, the turning bladders 130 are coupled to a manifold 270 by tubing. The manifold 270 has quick-release fittings which allow the rapid coupling and de-coupling of the air supply to the turning bladders 130.
In operation, the low-volume, high-pressure air supply 140 selectively supplies air to the turning bladders 130 to inflate and deflate the bladders along one edge of the mattress 110. When the bladders inflate, they raise one side of the mattress 110 to turn the mattress. The bladders can then be deflated to return the mattress 110 to a horizontal position. The process can then be repeated with the turning bladders 130 on the other edge of the mattress 110.
The use of the low-volume, high pressure air supply provides several advantages over conventional systems. For example, the low-volume, high-pressure air supply is quieter and more energy efficient than a conventional high-volume, low-pressure air supply. Further, the lower volume allows quicker inflation and deflation, thereby accomplishing turning quicker.
The above specification and examples provide a complete description of the structure and use of exemplary embodiments. Although certain embodiments have been described above with a certain degree of particularity, or with reference to one or more individual embodiments, those skilled in the art could make numerous alterations to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope of this invention. As such, the various illustrative embodiments of the present devices are not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, they include all modifications and alternatives falling within the scope of the claims, and embodiments other than the one shown may include some or all of the features of the depicted embodiment. For example, components may be combined as a unitary structure, and/or connections may be substituted (e.g., threads may be substituted with press-fittings or welds). Further, where appropriate, aspects of any of the examples described above may be combined with aspects of any of the other examples described to form further examples having comparable or different properties and addressing the same or different problems. Similarly, it will be understood that the benefits and advantages described above may relate to one embodiment or may relate to several embodiments.
The claims are not intended to include, and should not be interpreted to include, means-plus- or step-plus-function limitations, unless such a limitation is explicitly recited in a given claim using the phrase(s) “means for” or “step for,” respectively.
This application claims the benefit of priority to provisional U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 62/029,165, filed Jul. 25, 2014 which relates generally to therapeutic mattress systems and is incorporated by reference herein.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US15/42179 | 7/27/2015 | WO | 00 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62029165 | Jul 2014 | US |
