Pneumatic Bed Elevation System for At-Home Patient Care
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current solutions for at-home patient care are costly and complex, lacking the ability to easily elevate bed sections and provide contactless monitoring of vital signs without disturbing patients, making it challenging to provide effective care in a home setting.
Innovation Solution
A bed assembly with a frame, mattress, and patient-care system that includes an elevation system using pneumatic bladders and actuators to raise the head and foot sections, along with contactless sensing and integrated point-of-care monitoring, allowing caregivers to monitor patients' vital signs without disturbing them.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional consumer beds are used for at-home patient care, then the bed is simple and inexpensive, but it cannot elevate bed sections or provide contactless monitoring of vital signs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple functions into a single bed assembly system, combining elevation capability (head and foot section adjustment), contactless vital signs monitoring, and alarm notification into one unified device. This allows a standard consumer bed to provide hospital-grade patient care features without requiring multiple separate equipment pieces, thereby improving adaptability while controlling complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges the elevation mechanism with the monitoring system by integrating sensors, control circuits, and actuators within the bed structure itself. The contactless sensors are embedded in the mattress or bed frame, and the control system coordinates both elevation and monitoring functions through a unified interface, reducing the need for separate equipment and simplifying home care setup.
2Reliability
If hospital-grade patient care equipment is provided at home, then vital signs monitoring and bed elevation are available, but the cost and complexity of equipping the home increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The bed assembly provides hospital-grade monitoring and elevation functions through an integrated system that combines multiple capabilities in one device. The contactless sensors monitor vital signs without requiring physical contact, the elevation system adjusts bed sections independently, and the alarm system provides notifications - all within a single bed unit that can be placed in a standard home environment without requiring multiple separate medical equipment pieces.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates automatic monitoring and alarm functions that operate without continuous caregiver intervention. The contactless sensors continuously monitor vital signs and automatically trigger alarms when abnormalities are detected, enabling the bed to self-monitor and self-report patient status, thereby providing reliable care while reducing the operational complexity for home users.
3Ease of operation
If contactless sensing is implemented to monitor vital signs, then patient disturbance is minimized, but the sensing technology becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces traditional mechanical or physical contact-based monitoring methods with contactless sensing technology. Instead of requiring sensors to physically touch the patient or requiring manual measurement, the system uses optical or electromagnetic sensors that detect vital signs through non-contact means, thereby minimizing patient disturbance while providing continuous monitoring capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The contactless sensing system is integrated into the bed assembly alongside other functions such as elevation and alarm notification. By combining multiple functions in one system, the patent reduces the need for separate monitoring equipment, thereby managing overall system complexity while maintaining the ease of non-intrusive operation that contactless sensing provides.
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
Enables efficient and non-intrusive patient care by allowing the bed sections to be elevated and vital signs to be monitored remotely, reducing the complexity and cost of at-home care while improving patient comfort and caregiver efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
The elevation system includes at least one pneumatic bladder positioned between the top plate and the base plate and at least one valve coupled to the at least one pneumatic bladder
Implementation Method 2
The bladder has a sheet that defines an internal space and the elevation system further includes a foam insert positioned within the internal space of the bladder and the foam insert is configured to apply an outward force on the sheet to expand the bladder to the inflated state
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure is related to a bed assembly. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to a bed assembly that is compatible with a traditional consumer bed and can enhance the traditional consumer bed so it provides features of a traditional hospital bed. The bed assembly of the present disclosure may include pneumatic components to move portions of the bed assembly.