Flexible Electric Heating Pad With Integrated Grounding Layer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current heated blankets and pads for surgical patients face issues such as high costs, noise, contamination risks, bulkiness, and safety concerns due to high-temperature air, as well as difficulties in cleaning and disinfecting, and they often compromise patient comfort and safety by causing pressure ulcers and microbial contamination.
Innovation Solution
A flexible, stretchable heating blanket or pad with a conductive or semi-conductive fabric that serves as both a heating element and a grounding electrode, integrated into a single layer to enhance patient warming and safety, using a semi-conductive polymer like polypyrrole for efficient heat transfer and RF energy absorption, and a water-resistant shell for easy cleaning and disinfection.
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 replaces the mechanical forced-air warming system (blower, hose, inflatable blanket) with an electrical heating element system. The heating element is integrated into a flexible blanket that directly contacts the patient, eliminating the need for air circulation mechanisms while achieving effective patient warming through direct thermal conduction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and eliminates the complex forced-air warming components (blower motor, hose, inflatable chambers) from the warming system, retaining only the essential heating function through a simplified electrical heating element integrated into a flexible blanket structure.
2Temperature
If forced-air warming is used, then patient warming effectiveness is improved, but noise and contamination risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical air-blowing system with an electrical heating system that uses direct thermal conduction. This eliminates noise from the blower motor and eliminates the risk of air-borne contamination in the surgical field, while maintaining effective patient warming.
3Reliability
If traditional heated blankets with shells are used, then heater protection is improved, but cleaning and disinfection difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible, waterproof outer layer that can be easily removed and disposed of or cleaned. This thin film provides sufficient protection for the heating element while allowing for easy cleaning and disinfection, eliminating the complexity of traditional multi-component shells with fasteners and seals.
4Temperature
If heating elements are integrated into blankets, then patient warming is improved, but risk of burns and pressure ulcers increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent controls the temperature parameter of the heating element to remain within a safe range that provides effective warming without causing burns or pressure ulcers. The heating element is designed to distribute heat evenly and maintain a maximum temperature that is therapeutic but not harmful to patient tissue.
5Reliability
If separate heating and grounding components are used, then functional reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the heating element and grounding electrode functions into a single integrated component. The conductive heating element serves dual purposes: providing thermal warming and serving as the grounding electrode for electrosurgical equipment, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining functional reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating element is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a thermal heating element and as an electrosurgical grounding electrode. This universal component performs multiple critical functions simultaneously, reducing the overall number of components needed in the system.
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 while minimizing the risk of burns and pressure ulcers, maintaining safety and hygiene standards, and reducing manufacturing complexity and costs by integrating heating and grounding functions into a single flexible layer.
Implementation Method 1
using a semi-conductive polymer like polypyrrole for efficient heat transfer
Implementation Method 2
a conductive or semi-conductive fabric that serves as both a heating element and a grounding electrode, integrated into a single layer to enhance patient warming and safety, using a semi-conductive polymer like polypyrrole for efficient heat transfer and RF energy absorption
Implementation Method 3
flexible, stretchable heating blanket or pad with a conductive or semi-conductive fabric that serves as both a heating element
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.