Overhead Slit Lamp Mounting for Wheelchair Accessibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional slit lamp biomicroscope assemblies face challenges in properly positioning patients with anatomical or medical restrictions, such as those in wheelchairs, with limited neck mobility, or obesity, due to the ergonomic impediments caused by the integral table base, which hinders accurate examination and treatment.
Innovation Solution
A table-free overhead assembly system for the slit lamp biomicroscope that allows translation and fixation in all three spatial axes, eliminating the need for a table base and enabling precise control of the instrument's position and illumination, allowing for accurate examination of patients with anatomical or medical restrictions while keeping both hands free for manipulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a table base is used to support the slit lamp biomicroscope assembly, then the instrument can be positioned and stabilized, but the table base creates ergonomic obstructions that hinder the examination of patients with anatomical or medical restrictions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the table base from the slit lamp biomicroscope assembly, extracting the problematic element that caused ergonomic obstructions. The instrument is supported from above by a canopy structure instead, eliminating the table base that interfered with patient positioning and examination access.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure is inverted from the conventional bottom-up table base to an overhead canopy structure. This dimensional change in support direction eliminates the obstruction problem while maintaining positioning stability through a different spatial arrangement.
2Reliability
If a table base is included in the slit lamp assembly, then the instrument can be supported, but the table base limits the ability to examine patients in wheelchairs or with limited neck mobility
Solution Approach 1:
The table base is completely removed from the system, eliminating the structural limitation that prevented examination of patients in wheelchairs or with limited mobility. The overhead canopy structure provides support without restricting patient positioning or access.
Solution Approach 2:
The canopy-supported design enables the slit lamp to accommodate diverse patient types including those in wheelchairs, with limited neck mobility, or with anatomical restrictions, making the system universally applicable to various patient populations without the constraints of a table base.
3Stability of the object's composition
If an integral table base is used, then the slit lamp biomicroscope can be stabilized, but the table base creates anatomical barriers to proper patient positioning
Solution Approach 1:
The table base is extracted from the system, removing the source of anatomical obstruction. The overhead canopy structure provides alternative support that does not interfere with patient anatomy or positioning, eliminating the harmful obstructive effect while maintaining instrument stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure is repositioned from below the patient (table base) to above the patient (canopy structure). This dimensional repositioning eliminates the anatomical barrier effect while maintaining the stability function through a different spatial location.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus providing a means for slit lamp biomicroscopes and similar opthalmological instruments to be accurately positioned and controlled without the need for a table base under the instrument, comprising an overhead assembly and mounting device which allows controlled movement and positioning of the slit lamp and associated illumination system in all three spatial axes. The overhead location of the support and movement mechanism combined with a joystick control on the instrument arm eliminates ergonomic obstacles allowing the instrument to be used when examining patients in wheelchairs and those affected by medical and anatomic restrictions.