Patient Support Bed Tilt Frame for Sit-to-Stand Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hospital beds lack the ability to efficiently transition patients from a lying position to a sitting or standing position, limiting patient mobility and accessibility.
Innovation Solution
A hospital bed with a tilt and stand capability, featuring a separately moveable head, seat, and foot sections, a rotatable tilt frame, and a footboard assembly that allows the bed to transition into a chair orientation or a standing position, along with actuators for independent section control and safety features like a CPR release and sensor-activated movement stops.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a hospital bed is designed with traditional fixed structure, then manufacturing is simple and cost is low, but patient mobility and accessibility are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The bed is divided into multiple independently controllable sections (head section, seat section, foot section) that can be positioned separately. This segmentation allows the bed to adapt to different patient positions and mobility needs while maintaining a manageable structural complexity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The bed incorporates dynamic positioning capabilities with actuators that enable each section to move between horizontal and vertical positions. This dynamic behavior allows the bed to transition between different configurations (lying, sitting, standing) to enhance patient mobility while the controlled actuation system keeps the overall device complexity manageable.
2Adaptability or versatility
If actuators are added to enable independent section control, then patient positioning flexibility is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The actuator system is segmented with individual actuators assigned to specific sections (head actuator, seat actuator, foot actuator). This segmentation allows each actuator to control only its designated section, simplifying the control logic and reducing the overall system complexity compared to a single complex actuation mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The actuators are designed with multi-functionality, enabling each actuator to perform multiple operations (raising, lowering, positioning) on its designated section. This universality reduces the total number of actuators needed, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining positioning flexibility.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the bed is designed to transition to standing position, then patient accessibility is improved, but safety risks during transition increase
Solution Approach 1:
The bed system performs preliminary actions by automatically positioning intermediate sections (seat section, foot section) to appropriate angles before the final standing transition. This preparatory positioning ensures that the patient is supported correctly throughout the transition process, enhancing safety while enabling standing access.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates sensors that provide feedback during the transition process to monitor patient position and bed configuration. This feedback mechanism allows the control system to adjust the transition dynamically, ensuring safety by detecting and responding to any anomalies during the position changes.
4Reliability
If multiple sensors and safety features are added, then patient safety during transition is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple safety functions are merged into integrated control systems. The sensors, actuators, and control logic are combined into a unified system that manages both positioning and safety functions together, reducing the apparent complexity by eliminating separate dedicated systems for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor and control system is designed with multi-functionality, where the same sensors and controllers serve both positioning control and safety monitoring purposes. This universality reduces the total number of components needed compared to having separate dedicated systems for each function.
Data Source
AI summary
A bed is provided having a base frame, a patient support assembly connected to the base frame. The patient support assembly is rotatable adjacent the foot end of the bed to place the patient support assembly, including the head section and foot section thereof, in a generally vertical position to allow a patient to exit the bed in a standing orientation.