Prone Surgery Patient Support Frame With Cleanable Rotating Mounts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current patient positioning devices for prone surgery pose challenges in cleanliness, infection control, and pinch hazards due to hook and loop straps, and difficulty in accessing actuation mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A patient support system with a support frame, movable carriages, and an actuation mechanism that allows for easy cleaning, reduces pinch hazards, and facilitates easy access to actuation features, featuring a splined support rod and rotatable mount blocks with independent actuation buttons.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If hook and loop straps are used to secure the support frame to the surgical table, then the device can be easily attached and detached, but the straps are difficult to clean and disinfect, attracting and holding debris and pathogens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the hook and loop strap component entirely and replaces it with a direct attachment mechanism where the support frame connects to the surgical table through a simplified interface that eliminates the need for separate fastening elements, thereby eliminating the cleaning and disinfection problems associated with hook and loop straps
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs disposable covering sheets that can be easily changed between patients, replacing the need for thorough cleaning and disinfection of the attachment mechanism itself. This disposable approach eliminates the accumulation of debris and pathogens in the attachment interface
2Ease of operation
If the carriages are rotated to move the distal end of the leave into a vertical direction for placement of disposables, then the support structures can be adjusted, but the actuation means are rotated downward toward the frame making it difficult to access and creating a pinch hazard
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of rotating the carriage downward toward the frame as in conventional designs, the patent inverts the motion so that the carriage rotates upward or remains in an elevated position, keeping the actuation means accessible and eliminating the pinch hazard by preventing the carriage from moving into a position where fingers could be trapped
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the rotational dimension of the carriage mechanism, allowing rotation about a different axis or in a different direction that keeps the actuation means in an accessible location away from the frame structure, thereby eliminating the pinch hazard while maintaining adjustability
Data Source
AI summary
A patient support system for supporting a patient during surgery comprising support frame, a plurality of patient supports, a moveable carriage mounted to the support frame, the moveable carriage being movable along a first direction and a second direction relative to the support frame, the moveable carriage comprising mount blocks on which the patient supports are mounted, and an actuation mechanism that causes movement of the moveable carriage in the first and second directions, the patient supports being removably attached at one end to the support frame and attached at another end to the movable carriage, wherein the mount blocks are rotatable independent of any movement of the movable carriage in the first and second directions.