Size Adjustable Patient Sling With Closure Elements
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sling assemblies often fail to accommodate a wide range of patient sizes and clinical situations, leading to inadequate support or instability, and existing solutions such as multiple loops or variously sized slings complicate caregiver selection and increase snagging risks during transport.
Innovation Solution
A size-adjustable sling design featuring left and right flanks with a permanently joined interflank panel and secureable/releasable closure elements, allowing for adjustment of the effective lateral dimension to suit different patient sizes, ensuring proper support and stability without compromising safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single fixed-size sling is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the adaptability to different patient sizes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The sling incorporates adjustable closure elements that allow the effective lateral dimension to be dynamically changed based on patient size requirements. The closure elements can be positioned at multiple locations along the interflank panel, enabling the sling to adapt from a compact configuration for smaller patients to an extended configuration for larger patients, thus resolving the contradiction between fixed structure and adaptability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple loops are provided for size adjustment, then the adaptability to different patient sizes is improved, but the reliability during transport deteriorates due to increased snagging risk
Solution Approach 1:
The sling is segmented into distinct functional components: flanks, interflank panel, and closure elements. This segmentation allows the size adjustment function to be isolated to specific closure element positions rather than requiring multiple distributed loops throughout the sling structure, thereby maintaining adaptability while reducing overall snagging risk during transport.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple differently sized slings are offered, then the adaptability to different patient sizes is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates due to selection complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The sling design achieves multi-functionality by incorporating closure elements that can be positioned at multiple locations along the interflank panel. A single sling model can serve multiple patient size categories (small, medium, large, extra-large) by adjusting the closure element position, eliminating the need for caregivers to select from multiple different sling models and simplifying the operational process.
Data Source
AI summary
A sling for supporting a subject such as a patient includes a panel assembly including a left flank with a left end, a right flank with a right end, and an interflank panel. The interflank panel has a left extremity permanently joined to the left end of the left flank and a right extremity permanently joined to the right end of the right flank. The sling also includes a left closure element and a right closure element which are securable to each other and releasable from each other to adjust an effective dimension of the sling. In another embodiment, the sling includes a frangible closure member which secures the left flank to the right flank.