Patient/invalid support with pressure reducing system
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mattresses for hospital or bedridden patients face challenges in balancing pressure redistribution with weight and manufacturing complexity, often resulting in either heavy and difficult-to-manage options or costly, lightweight alternatives that are hard to manufacture.
Innovation Solution
A patient support system comprising multiple layers of varying materials, including foam and dry polymer gel-based cushioning layers with different firmness levels, bounded by firmer foam rails to create a cradle effect and reduce the risk of rolling, and optionally featuring wedges and recesses for enhanced comfort and pressure distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional pressure redistribution mattresses are used, then pressure sore prevention is improved, but weight increases making them difficult to maneuver
Solution Approach 1:
The mattress is divided into multiple independent layers with distinct functions: a top comfort layer, a middle pressure redistribution layer, and a bottom support layer. This segmentation allows each layer to be optimized independently, achieving pressure sore prevention through the middle layer's specific structure while keeping the overall mattress lightweight by using thin, efficient materials in each segment.
Solution Approach 2:
The middle layer features locally varied density and structure, with higher density zones positioned under areas prone to pressure sores (sacrum, heels, hips) and lower density zones elsewhere. This local quality optimization provides targeted pressure redistribution where needed most while minimizing overall material usage and weight.
2Weight of moving object
If lightweight mattress materials are used, then ease of maneuvering is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The mattress employs composite material construction, combining foam layers with different densities and properties in a standardized laminated structure. This approach uses commercially available, easily manufactured materials that can be bonded together using standard lamination processes, avoiding the need for complex or proprietary materials while achieving lightweight performance.
Solution Approach 2:
Rather than changing material composition or structure, the invention achieves weight reduction by optimizing dimensional parameters - specifically the thickness of each layer. The middle pressure redistribution layer is designed with minimal effective thickness, and the overall mattress profile is reduced, allowing lightweight construction through parameter optimization rather than material innovation.
3Reliability
If firmness variation is increased for pressure redistribution, then pressure sore prevention is improved, but structural integrity under prolonged pressure deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The middle layer incorporates localized firmness variations through strategically positioned high-density foam zones embedded within a lower-density matrix. These high-density zones provide the necessary firmness for pressure redistribution under bony prominences, while the surrounding softer material maintains overall structural flexibility and integrity under prolonged loading.
Solution Approach 2:
The mattress uses composite foam construction in the middle layer, combining high-density and low-density foam materials in a unified structure. This composite approach allows the firm high-density regions to handle localized pressure points while the softer low-density regions provide overall structural support and shock absorption, maintaining integrity under prolonged pressure.
4Reliability
If multiple layers with different firmness are added, then pressure redistribution is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mattress is segmented into three distinct functional layers, each with a specific role in pressure redistribution. This segmentation provides clear design boundaries and simplifies the overall structure compared to a single complex layer, as each segment can be independently optimized and manufactured using standard processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The mattress employs a composite layered structure where each layer is made from standard foam materials that are easily manufactured and bonded. This composite approach achieves complex pressure redistribution functionality through simple material stacking and lamination, avoiding the need for integrated complex structures or proprietary assembly processes.
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 redistributes pressure across the patient support surface, reducing the risk of pressure sores by providing variable firmness and maintaining structural integrity under prolonged pressure, while being lightweight and easier to manufacture.
Implementation Method 1
provides pressure redistribution across its patient support surface area at the interface between the patient and the patient support
Implementation Method 2
At least one of the layers comprises a dry polymer gel-based cushioning layer
Implementation Method 3
At least two of the layers comprise foam, with each of the at least two layers having a different firmness
Implementation Method 4
each of the at least two layers having a different firmness
Implementation Method 5
The primary patient support surface is bounded between two rails that are formed from a foam material with a greater firmness to thereby form a cradle around the patient support surface to reduce the risk of a patient from rolling off
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A patient support includes a plurality of stacked layers of cushioning material, at least two of the layers comprising foam, each of the at least two layers having a different firmness, and at least one of the layers comprising a gel-based cushioning layer.