Flexible Heating Pad With Integrated Grounding Electrode
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heated blankets and pads for surgical patients face challenges such as high costs, noise, contamination risks, bulkiness, and safety concerns due to high-temperature air, as well as issues with fluid contamination and microbial growth, while traditional electric heaters are stiff and prone to burns. There is a need for flexible, durable, and safe heating solutions that integrate capacitive coupling electrodes for electrosurgical grounding without compromising patient comfort or safety.
Innovation Solution
A flexible sheet-like heating element integrated with a capacitive coupling grounding electrode, made from conductive or semi-conductive fabrics like polypyrrole, which serves both heating and grounding functions, is encapsulated in a waterproof shell with a redundant dielectric layer for safety, allowing optimal patient contact and reducing the risk of burns and microbial contamination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If forced-air warming is used to prevent hypothermia, then patient warming effectiveness is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the heating function from a complex forced-air system and implements it through a simple electric heating element embedded in a flexible blanket. This eliminates the need for blowers, hoses, and air distribution systems while maintaining effective patient warming through direct conductive and radiant heat transfer.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical forced-air system with an electrical heating system. Instead of using a blower to circulate warm air through hoses and blankets, the invention uses electric resistance heating elements that directly generate heat, eliminating mechanical moving parts and simplifying the overall system.
2Temperature
If forced-air warming is used, then patient warming effectiveness is improved, but noise and contamination risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the air blowing mechanism entirely, extracting only the essential warming function. This eliminates noise generation from blowers and prevents contamination risks associated with air circulation systems that can disturb the surgical field or introduce particles.
Solution Approach 2:
By replacing the mechanical air circulation system with an electrical heating system, the patent eliminates noise and contamination issues inherent in forced-air systems while maintaining effective patient warming through direct heat transfer.
3Temperature
If forced-air warming is used, then patient warming effectiveness is improved, but bulkiness increases obscuring surgeon view
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential heating function from the bulky forced-air system, eliminating blowers, large hoses, and complex air distribution infrastructure. The result is a compact, flexible blanket that provides effective warming without obscuring the surgical field.
Solution Approach 2:
By substituting the mechanical forced-air system with a flexible electric heating blanket, the patent dramatically reduces bulkiness while maintaining warming effectiveness. The flexible design allows the blanket to conform to the patient's body without creating obstructions in the surgeon's view.
4Ease of manufacture
If traditional electric heaters are used, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but flexibility and safety decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible blanket material as the housing and heating surface, allowing the device to conform to the patient's body contours. This flexible design improves comfort and contact while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through standard textile and electrical component assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines flexible blanket material with electric heating elements and insulation layers to create a composite structure that provides both flexibility and thermal efficiency. This composite design maintains ease of manufacture while achieving the desired flexibility and safety characteristics.
5Ease of manufacture
If traditional electric heaters are used, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but burn risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible blanket design allows the heating element to conform closely to the patient's body, distributing heat evenly and preventing localized hot spots that could cause burns. The flexibility enables better thermal contact while maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite structure combines heating elements with insulation and flexible covering materials that distribute and regulate heat flow, reducing the risk of burns while maintaining ease of manufacture through standard composite material assembly techniques.
6Reliability
If heated blankets with shells are used, then protection from fluid damage is improved, but cleaning difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a seamless flexible blanket design that provides fluid protection without requiring complex shells or seams. The smooth, continuous surface is easily cleanable while maintaining reliable protection against fluid damage to the heating elements.
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 provides effective patient warming, reduces the risk of burns and microbial contamination, and enhances safety by integrating heating and grounding functions in a single flexible layer, improving patient comfort and reducing manufacturing complexity and costs.
Implementation Method 1
electrical heating elements
Implementation Method 2
capacitive coupling electrodes for electrosurgical grounding
Data Source
AI summary
An electric heating pad for warming a patient. The electric heating pad may be a heated underbody support, heated mattress or heated mattress overlay. An embodiment of the heating pad includes a flexible sheet-like heating element including an upper edge, a lower edge, and at least two side edges. The heating pad may also include a shell covering the heating element and comprising at least two sheets of flexible material (e.g., two sheets may be one sheet folded over to form at least two sheets). The two sheets of flexible material may be coupled together about the edges of the heating element by a weld. The material of the two sheets may include urethane. In some embodiments, a catalyst to accelerate hydrogen peroxide decomposition is coated on or impregnated into an element within the shell, or on the interior surface of the shell.