Modular Multi-Articulated Patient Support System Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current patient support systems in surgical settings are inadequate for flexible positioning and access, often requiring massive counterbalancing structures that obstruct imaging equipment and necessitate dedicated operating rooms, limiting flexibility and portability during procedures like spinal surgery.
Innovation Solution
A modular, multi-articulated patient support system with independently adjustable upright columns, horizontal support assemblies, and a coordinated drive system allowing for tilting, rotation, and angulation of the patient support structure, enabling precise positioning and repositioning without massive counterbalancing structures, and facilitating access for medical personnel and equipment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional patient support systems are used, then structural stability is maintained, but flexibility and accessibility for imaging equipment are reduced due to massive counterbalancing structures
Solution Approach 1:
The patient support system is divided into multiple independently adjustable segments including head section, trunk section, and leg sections. Each section can be positioned separately to achieve various patient orientations without requiring massive counterbalancing structures, thereby improving flexibility while reducing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs dynamic positioning capabilities where each support section can be independently adjusted to different angles and positions during surgical procedures. This dynamic adaptability allows the system to achieve stable patient positioning without fixed counterbalancing structures, resolving the contradiction between flexibility and structural complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If radiolucent patient support surfaces are used, then imaging compatibility is improved, but structural strength and stability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patient support surfaces utilize composite material construction that combines radiolucent properties with adequate structural strength. This allows the system to maintain imaging compatibility while preserving the necessary mechanical strength to support patient weight and surgical activities without requiring厚重 counterbalancing structures.
3Reliability
If dedicated operating rooms are required, then patient support stability is ensured, but portability and accessibility are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the requirement for dedicated operating rooms by designing a self-contained, portable patient support system with integrated stabilization mechanisms. The system maintains patient support stability through its own structural design rather than relying on fixed facility infrastructure, thereby improving portability while preserving reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical table for supporting a patient during a surgical procedure and including a patient support structure, a first support structure, and a second support structure. The patient support structure is configured to support the patient during the surgical procedure and may be operably coupled at a first end to the first support structure and at a second end to the second support structure. The first support structure includes a first column and a first displacement apparatus operably coupling the first column to the first end of the patient support structure.