Occupant support with a migration sensitive bladder and method for migration detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Patients in hospital beds often migrate from optimal to nonoptimal positions due to articulating and therapeutic features, leading to undesirable shear stresses on the skin, necessitating a method to monitor and correct their position effectively.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising pressurizable bladders in the head and foot zones of a hospital bed, connected to a controller that compares pressure changes to set limits to infer occupant migration, allowing for timely corrective actions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If articulating and therapeutic features are used in hospital beds, then patient comfort and therapy delivery are improved, but occupant migration occurs leading to nonoptimal positioning and skin shear stresses
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of occupant position using pressure sensors in the mattress bladders before migration causes harmful effects. By continuously monitoring pressure distributions and detecting changes that indicate migration trends, the system can alert caregivers or automatically adjust bed positions to prevent skin shear stresses before they occur.
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes feedback loops by continuously monitoring pressure changes in head and foot zone bladders, comparing current pressure distributions against baseline optimal positions, and providing real-time information to caregivers or automated control systems. This feedback enables timely corrective actions to maintain optimal occupant positioning despite the presence of articulating and therapeutic features.
2Measurement precision
If continuous monitoring of occupant position is implemented, then migration detection is improved, but system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential information needed for migration detection by focusing pressure monitoring on specific critical zones (head and foot zones) rather than requiring complete surface coverage. This selective extraction of monitoring data reduces sensor quantity and system complexity while maintaining sufficient measurement precision to detect occupant migration.
Solution Approach 2:
The pressure-sensitive bladders serve multiple functions: they provide structural support for the patient, enable therapy delivery through pressure adjustment, and simultaneously perform migration detection through pressure distribution monitoring. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate dedicated sensors, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining measurement precision.
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 system effectively detects and responds to occupant migration, maintaining optimal positioning and reducing shear stresses by adjusting bladder pressures, thereby improving patient comfort and safety.
Implementation Method 1
The mattress includes head and foot zones each having at least one pressurizable bladder... comparing the head end rate to at least one head end rate limit, comparing the foot end rate to at least one foot end rate limit, and inferring, in response to the comparing steps, whether or not occupant migration has occurred
Data Source
AI summary
A method for detecting occupant position change on a support surface includes establishing a rate of change of pressure in a head end test zone and in a foot end test zone, comparing the head end rate to at least one head end rate limit, comparing the foot end rate to at least one foot end rate limit, and inferring, in response to the comparing steps, whether or not occupant migration has occurred. An associated occupant support includes a frame and a mattress. The mattress includes head and foot zones each having at least one pressurizable bladder. The support also includes a controller adapted to compare a head end rate of pressure change to a head end rate limit, to compare a foot end rate of pressure change to a foot end rate limit, and to infer, in response to the comparing steps, whether or not occupant migration has occurred.