Pillow for supporting the head of a patient

Abstract

The invention relates to a pillow (1) for supporting a head of a patient laying on a support surface on which the pillow is arranged during use. The pillow comprises four separated chambers (2) each being located adjacent to an edge (3) of the pillow. It has an asymmetric design in which the chambers all have different circumferential shapes and / or sizes. The pillow preferably further comprises a middle region (6) with significantly less filling material than the chambers, such as without any filling material. The pillow is designed for use in an intensive care unit of a hospital, such as for use when a patient is immobile e.g. due to being in a comatose or anesthetized condition, in a manner which is more adjustable to a specific patient's needs than known pillows.

Description

[0001] PILLOW FOR SUPPORTING THE HEAD OF A PATIENT

[0002] FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The present invention relates to a pillow for supporting the head of a patient. In particular, it relates to a pillow that is designed for use in an intensive care unit of a hospital, such as for use when a patient is immobile, e.g. due to being in a comatose or anesthetized condition.

[0004] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0005] It is well known to use pillows for positioning a hospitalized patient in the most comfortable way from the patient's subjective perspective. For some patients, it will also be necessary to consider medical conditions when deciding the required support.

[0006] The present invention has been developed for use in intensive care units, where the positioning and support of a patient is not only related to comfort but typically also influences the recovery process. If the patient is in a comatose or anesthetized condition or for other reasons unable to move, the constant pressure on certain parts of the body due to the body weight may cause pressure sores that is a serious complication of the health condition. Other possible complications may arise for patients having part of the skull temporarily removed or patients being connected to medical devices, such as drains, oxygen supplies or cables from monitoring sensors.

[0007] There are already medical pillows on the market that are designed to hold the head of a patient in a specific position. However, these are generic pillows by design and cannot be customized to the individual patient. Some of these pillows are inflatable, but filling in the form of air may be too hard a support for an anesthetized or unconscious patient, and these cushions are therefore intended for the mobile user who is not unconscious for long periods. Furthermore, most of the pillows available for medical use are produced in different sizes or shapes to be adapted to the individual user, and this means that multiple pillows are often needed for the individual patients possibly experiencing a prolonged hospitalization process, since such processes are dynamic with different needs over time.

[0008] Hence, an improved pillow suitable for use in an intensive care unit would be advantageous.

[0009] OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[0010] It is an object of the present invention to provide a pillow that can provide support to the head of a patient in a manner that is more adjustable to a specific patient's needs than known pillows.

[0011] It is another object of the present invention to provide a pillow that, at least partly, relieves an increased intracranial pressure of a patient suffering therefrom.

[0012] It is an object of at least some embodiments of the invention to provide a pillow that lowers the risk of pressure sores of partially or fully immobilized, bedbound, and possibly unconscious patients when compared to known pillows.

[0013] It is another object of at least some embodiments of the invention to provide a pillow that on its own can be used to stably support the head of a patient who has had the skull plate in the neck removed.

[0014] It is a further object of the present invention to provide an alternative to the prior art.

[0015] In particular, it may be seen as an object of the present invention to provide a pillow that solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.

[0016] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0017] Thus, the above described object and several other objects are intended to be obtained in a first aspect of the invention by providing a pillow for supporting a head of a patient laying on a support surface on which the pillow is arranged during use, wherein the pillow: - comprises four separated chambers each being located adjacent to an edge of the pillow, and

[0018] - has an asymmetric design in which the chambers all have different circumferential shapes and / or sizes.

[0019] As mentioned above, a pillow according to the present invention has been designed for use in an intensive care unit of a hospital, such as for use when a patient is immobile, e.g. due to being in a comatose or anesthetized condition. Therefore, the following description will be based on such a use. However, the pillow may also find other uses, such as for elderly people or other persons needing special support e.g. to avoid pressure sores. The pillow may also be used by people wanting the advantages of the special design purely for comfort without any special medical need therefore. Thus, what is referred to as "patient" in the following could also be referred to as "person".

[0020] One or more of the four chambers could potentially be divided into smaller subchambers, e.g. by stitching, in order to ensure a more even distribution of filling material contained therein. Such embodiments of the invention are also considered to be covered by the scope of protection.

[0021] The chambers may be separated in any suitable way depending on the material of which the pillow is made. They could e.g. be separated by use of stitching or gluing.

[0022] The asymmetric design of the pillow provides for multi-functionality, as the pillow can be arranged in four different orientations with respect to the patient, the different orientations providing different support conditions. The pillow is designed to make it possible to take into account one or more of the following factors when arranging the pillow in relation to e.g. a neuro-intensive patient: drains and measuring equipment protruding from the head, missing skull plate(s), different face shapes, head weight and neck length. More details will be explained in relation to the description of the figures.

[0023] In some embodiments of the invention, the separations between neighbouring chambers extend towards an edge of the pillow at a distance of at least 8 cm, such as at least 10 cm, from a corner of the pillow. Hereby the pillow may obtain a more supporting configuration than for embodiments where the separations extend towards the corners. This is because the two largest chambers will form two bolsters located along two opposed edges of the pillow. The wording "extend towards" also covers embodiments where the separations end at a small distance from the edges.

[0024] At least some of the chambers may have different heights with respect to the support surface. In some of such embodiments, there may be a difference between heights of the lowest and the highest chambers that is at least 2 cm, such as at least 3 cm, such as at least 4 cm. In this context, "height" refers to the situation before a patient is laying on the pillow. The actual height of the chambers may depend on the preceding handling of the pillow. The mentioned heights and height differences typically refer to a situation where the pillow has been manually shaken by a caregiver, such as a nurse, and placed on the support surface; i.e. before compression by a patient laying thereon. The heights of the chambers will be influenced by the patient resting thereon, but at least in some embodiments and arrangements, there remains to be a difference in the heights of the chambers even with a patient's head being supported by the pillow. Hereby it provides the pillow with a high degree of adjustability to match the individual needs of the patients.

[0025] In presently preferred embodiments of the invention, the chambers contain filling material being different from air. This is different from inflatable pillows that have been found to be too hard and / or too non-adjustable for the intended use of a pillow according to the present invention.

[0026] In some embodiments of the invention, the filling material has different densities in at least some of the chambers. Such different densities may e.g. be obtained by using different kinds of materials or by using different amounts per volume of a given material. Hereby it provides the pillow with a high degree of adjustability to match the individual needs of the patients.

[0027] The filling material may be made from polyethylene and / or polyester, such as a combination of polyethylene flakes and polyester spheres. The filling material used during the development of the present invention is known under the tradename Fossflakes and that is a type of loose fibrefill. It that can be shaken in the same way as down so that the shaking motion reactivates the air content of the filling and thereby the pillow's ability to provide stable support. This specific filling material is made of polyethylene that is a durable and breathable plastic with small pores in the surface, which pores allow air to pass through. The filling may e.g. consist of 70% Fossflake flakes mixed with 30% polyester ball fibres.

[0028] The pillow may further comprise a middle region with significantly less filling material than the chambers, such as without any filling material. Such a middle region typically comprises a supporting lining extending between the surrounding chambers, so that the head can rest thereon. However, the scope of protection also covers embodiments in which the middle region is in the form of a hole without any lining.

[0029] The purpose of such a middle region in the pillow is twofold depending on how the patient is oriented. When the patient is lying in the supine position, i.e. looking upwards, the back of the head is lifted off the surface by the four chambers in the pillow, and thus unnecessary pressure on the skin and head is avoided. When the patient is lying on the side, the middle region allows the patient's ear to lie freely, thus avoiding pressure damage that is an otherwise very common complication for comatose, bedridden patients. The size of the central region should be small enough to ensure that in the supine position, the head does not sink into the pillow and rest too heavily on the surface with the risk of pressure. On the other hand, it should be large enough to ensure that with the patient laying in the side position, the ear is free while the rest of the head and neck region is optimally supported.

[0030] In embodiments having a middle region, the middle region may have an elongate shape to allow for different support conditions for the patient depending on the relative orientation of the pillow with respect to the patient.

[0031] In some embodiments of the invention, at least one edge of the pillow has an inwardly curved shape configured to provide support for the neck and / or shoulders of the patient during use and to provide access to the oral region of the patient, when the patient is lying on one side. The concave shape also provides space for mouth water to drain from the patient. This is especially important for patients with poor swallowing function and for intubated patients under anaesthesia. By "inwardly curved" is meant curving towards the centre of the pillow; an example will be shown in the figures.

[0032] In some embodiments of the invention, at least one of a lower and an upper surface of the pillow is made from or covered with a water-impermeable material. Hereby it may e.g. be possible to wash the patient without water getting into the filling material.

[0033] In a second aspect, the invention relates to the use of a pillow according to the first aspect of the invention for supporting the head of a patient in an intensive care unit of a hospital. Such a patient may e.g. suffer from one or more of the conditions mentioned above.

[0034] The first and second aspects of the present invention may each be combined with any of the other aspects. These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.

[0035] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0036] The pillow according to the invention will now be described in more detail with regard to the accompanying figures. The figures show one way of implementing the present invention and is not to be construed as being limiting to other possible embodiments falling within the scope of the attached claim set.

[0037] Figures l.a and l.b schematically show an embodiment of a pillow according to the present invention.

[0038] Figure 2 schematically shows another embodiment of a pillow according to the present invention; this pillow has a middle region. Figure 3 schematically shows another embodiment of a pillow according to the present invention. For this pillow, the separations between neighbouring chambers extend towards the corners of the pillow.

[0039] Figure 4 schematically shows a cross-sectional three-dimensional view along the middle of the pillow in figure 2 and illustrates the middle region.

[0040] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT

[0041] Figures l.a and l.b schematically show an embodiment of a pillow 1 designed for supporting a head of a patient laying on a support surface on which the pillow 1 is arranged during use. As described above, the pillow 1 has been developed for use in an intensive care unit of a hospital, but it may be used in any situation where a personalized support is desired. This can be obtained by arranging the pillow 1 in an orientation determined with respect to the head and to the patient's condition. Figure l.a is a top-view of the pillow 1 when it is arranged on a support surface; i.e. the support surface being in the plane of the paper. The pillow 1 comprises four separated chambers 2 each being located adjacent to an edge 3 of the pillow 1. The illustrated pillow 1 has an asymmetric design in which the chambers 2 all have different circumferential shapes and sizes. The separations 4 between neighbouring chambers 2 extend towards an edge 3 of the pillow 1 at a distance from a corner 5 of the pillow 1. This distance is typically at least 8 cm, such as at least 10 cm for a pillow 1 having edge dimensions in the order of 40 cm. Figure l.b is a cross-sectional three-dimensional view along the middle of the pillow 1 and illustrates two neighbouring chambers that have different heights hi,h2 with respect to the support surface. For such a pillow 1, there may be a difference between heights of the lowest and the highest chamber of at least 2 cm, such as at least 3 cm, such as at least 4 cm, before the patient is laying thereon and thereby compresses the filling material.

[0042] In the figures, the separations 4 between the chambers 2 are shown as straight lines. However, some or more of them may also be curved.

[0043] The two largest chambers 2 are designed to ensure that the patient's head is stable in the desired position in the supine position. When the head is stable in a neutral position (i.e. the patient looking straight ahead / upwards), optimal and sufficient blood supply to and drainage from the brain can be ensured. The chambers 2 are designed to allow sufficient space for central venous catheters on the side of the patient's neck. The two smallest chambers 2 can be oriented towards either the neck or the top of the head. The purpose of this asymmetry is that patients differ in physique as well as in need for neck support. Particularly applicable to the neuro-intensive patient is that some patients have had their skull plate in the neck removed and thus require minimal, yet supportive neck support. If a traditional pillow is used, there is a high risk of causing an incorrect pressure on the neck. Today this is counteracted by arranging rolled-up towels on the side of the patient's head and folded foam cloths in the neck region. Thus, it can be cumbersome and time-consuming to arrange a neuro-intensive patient in an optimal position.

[0044] When a patient lies on the side, also referred to as the lateral position, the large chambers can support the patient's neck and face so that the head does not fall backwards but remains neutral.

[0045] The reason for two different sizes for the two smallest chambers 2 is that patients have different neck lengths, and this influences the differences in the need for support. Furthermore, there is a different need for support before and after a skull plate is removed from the patient and re-attached again. This can be taken into account by arranging a pillow 1 according to the invention in different orientations with respect to the patient. Hereby it will most often be possible to obtain all the needed support in one pillow 1 without the need for using towels and foam clothes as with traditional pillows.

[0046] For the pillow 1 illustrated in the figures, one of the edges 3 has an inwardly curved shape configured to provide support for a neck and / or shoulders of the patient during use and to provide access to the oral region of the patient, when the patient is lying on one side. The scope of protection also covers pillows with straight edges only or with more than one of the edges being curved. As described in further details above, the chambers 2 of the pillow 1 preferably contains filling material being different from air, and the filling material may have different densities in at least some of the chambers 2.

[0047] Figure 2 schematically shows an embodiment of the invention, in which the pillow 1 further comprises a middle region 6 with significantly less filling material than the chambers, such as without any filling material. In the illustrated embodiment, the middle region 6 has an elongate shape, but other shapes, as e.g. circular or rectangular, are also covered by the scope of protection.

[0048] Figure 3 schematically shows another embodiment of a pillow 1 according to the invention. For this pillow 1, the separations 4 between neighbouring chambers 2 extend towards the corners 5 of the pillow 1. The pillow 1 in figure 3 has a middle region 6 in the same way as the one in figure 2.

[0049] Figures 2 and 3 illustrate pillows 1 having the middle region 6 in the same orientation. However, it may also extend in other orientations, such as perpendicular to the illustrated one. Features of figures 2 and 3 being the same as in figures l.a and l.b would have the same reference numbers.

[0050] Figure 4 schematically shows a cross-sectional three-dimensional view along the middle of the pillows 1 in figure 2; the figure thus illustrates the middle region 6. In this figure, the middle region 6 is shown as a line illustrating a pillow 1 without any filling in the middle region 6. However, as mentioned above the middle region 6 may also contain a bit of filling and would in that case have a corresponding thickness.

[0051] Although the present invention has been described in connection with the specified embodiments, it should not be construed as being in any way limited to the presented examples. The scope of the present invention is set out by the accompanying claim set. In the context of the claims, the terms "comprising" or "comprises" do not exclude other possible elements or steps. Also, the mentioning of references such as "a" or "an" etc. should not be construed as excluding a plurality. The use of reference signs in the claims with respect to elements indicated in the figures shall also not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Furthermore, individual features mentioned in different claims, may possibly be advantageously combined, and the mentioning of these features in different claims does not exclude that a combination of features is not possible and advantageous.

Claims

CLAIMS1. Pillow (1) for supporting a head of a patient laying on a support surface on which the pillow (1) is arranged during use, wherein the pillow (1):- comprises four separated chambers (2) each being located adjacent to an edge (3) of the pillow (1), and- has an asymmetric design in which the chambers (2) all have different circumferential shapes and / or sizes.

2. Pillow (1) according to claim 1, wherein separations (4) between neighbouring chambers (2) extend towards an edge (3) of the pillow (1) at a distance of at least 8 cm, such as at least 10 cm, from a corner (5) of the pillow (1).

3. Pillow (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least some of the chambers (2) have different heights (hi,h2) with respect to the support surface.

4. Pillow (1) according to claim 3, wherein there is a difference between heights of the lowest and the highest chamber (2) is at least 2 cm, such as at least 3 cm, such as at least 4 cm.

5. Pillow (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the chambers (2) contain filling material being different from air.

6. Pillow (1) according to claim 5, wherein the filling material has different densities in at least some of the chambers (2).

7. Pillow (1) according to claim 6, wherein the filling material is made from polyethylene and / or polyester, such as a combination of polyethylene flakes and polyester spheres.

8. Pillow (1) according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising a middle region (6) with significantly less filling material than the chambers (2), such as without any filling material.

9. Pillow (1) according to claim 8, wherein the middle region (6) has an elongate shape.

10. Pillow (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least one edge (3) of the pillow (1) has an inwardly curved shape configured to provide support for a neck and / or shoulders of the patient during use and to provide access to the oral region of the patient, when the patient is lying on one side.

11. Pillow (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of a lower and an upper surface of the pillow (1) is made from or covered with a water-impermeable material.

12. Use of a pillow (1) according to any of the preceding claims for supporting the head of a patient in an intensive care unit of a hospital.

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