Medical Examination Table with Auto-Taring and Motion Compensation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional examination tables with integrated scales face challenges such as the need for manual taring, difficulty in accurately measuring patients with involuntary movements, and ensuring the table supports the patient's full weight, especially for those with conditions like Parkinson's disease and elderly or disabled individuals.
Innovation Solution
The examination table incorporates an auto-taring feature using seat sensors, motion sensing, and weight thresholds to detect patient presence and adjust for involuntary motion, and a mechanism to raise the table so the patient's feet are off the floor for accurate weight measurement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the table height is lowered to facilitate patient ingress/egress, then patient comfort and accessibility are improved, but the patient's full weight cannot be supported for accurate measurement
Solution Approach 1:
The examination table height is made dynamically adjustable rather than fixed. The table can be lowered to facilitate patient ingress/egress and then raised to support the patient's full weight for accurate measurement. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by allowing the system to optimize for different functions at different times.
2Measurement precision
If manual taring is required before weighing, then measurement precision can be maintained, but operational complexity and staff workload increase
Solution Approach 1:
The scale performs automatic taring without requiring staff intervention. The system detects when the patient is on the table and automatically zeroes out the table's weight, eliminating the need for manual taring operations while maintaining measurement accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The taring operation is performed automatically in advance of the actual weighing measurement. The system prepares the scale by zeroing out the table weight before the patient settles, so that the subsequent measurement directly reflects the patient's weight without requiring staff to perform the taring step.
3Ease of operation
If the patient is weighed while seated on the table, then patient comfort is improved, but measurement accuracy deteriorates due to unsupported weight
Solution Approach 1:
The table height is dynamically adjusted based on the measurement phase. During ingress/egress, the table is lowered for comfort. During weighing, the table is raised to support the patient's full weight. This dynamic adjustment allows both comfort and accuracy to be optimized at appropriate times.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution ensures accurate and convenient patient weight measurement without manual taring, accommodating patients with involuntary movements and ensuring full weight support, enhancing patient comfort and measurement reliability.
Implementation Method 1
The load sensors are configured to support a portion of the examination table and generate signals proportional to the force being exerted on the load sensors by the supported portion of the examination table
Data Source
AI summary
An examination table including an integrated scale with automatic taring, weight capture in the presence of patient motion, and automatic table height adjustment. The examination table includes a controller that periodically tares the integrated scale when a patient is not on the table so that the scale is ready to measure the weight of a patient without manual taring by the table operator. When a patient is on the table, the controller detects the presence of patient motion based on signals from load sensors, and captures weights for patients experiencing uncontrolled motion or tremors by averaging and comparing sampled weight values over predetermined periods of time. To insure that the patient is fully supported by the examination table before weighing the patient, the controller automatically adjusts the height of the examination table support surface so that the patient's feet are not touching the floor prior to weighing the patient.