Patient Support Frame With Fail-Safe Attachment and Radiolucent Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing patient support structures in surgical settings are not radiolucent, obstruct imaging equipment, require complex mechanisms, and often necessitate dedicated operating rooms, leading to interruptions and potential patient injury due to improper repositioning.
Innovation Solution
A patient support structure with adjustable, radiolucent components that allow tilting, rotation, and angulation, maintaining the patient's head position for anesthesia, and incorporating a fail-safe mechanism to prevent collapse, while enabling easy access for medical personnel and equipment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional patient support structures are used, then structural strength and stability are maintained, but radiolucency is poor and imaging is obstructed
Solution Approach 1:
The patient support structure uses composite materials that combine radiolucent properties with structural strength, allowing the table to be transparent to imaging equipment while maintaining the necessary mechanical integrity for patient support during surgical procedures
2Adaptability or versatility
If complex repositioning mechanisms are used, then patient positioning flexibility is improved, but device complexity increases and failure risk rises
Solution Approach 1:
The patient support table is divided into multiple independently adjustable segments that can be positioned and locked at different angles and orientations, providing positioning flexibility without requiring complex interconnected mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The table incorporates dynamic adjustment capabilities that allow smooth transitions between positions through motorized or mechanical actuation systems, enabling versatile positioning while maintaining relatively simple mechanism design
3Measurement precision
If dedicated operating rooms with specialized equipment are used, then imaging capability is improved, but loss of time due to room changes increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patient support table is designed with multi-functional capabilities that integrate imaging compatibility directly into the table structure, allowing the same equipment to serve both patient support and imaging transmission functions, thereby eliminating the need for separate dedicated imaging rooms
4Ease of operation
If non-fail-safe attachment mechanisms are used, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability decreases and patient injury risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment mechanism incorporates fail-safe features that are pre-configured to automatically engage safety locks or disconnection prevention mechanisms before operation, ensuring that even if operator error occurs, the table remains securely attached to the base and patient injury is prevented
Data Source
AI summary
A patient support apparatus for supporting a patient in a prone position during a surgical procedure is provided, including an open fixed frame suspended above a floor and a pair of spaced opposed radially sliding joints cooperating with the frame, each joint including a virtual pivot point and an arc of motion spaced from the virtual pivot point, the joints being movable along the arc providing a pivot ship mechanism for a pair of pelvic pads attached to the joints. A base for supporting and suspending a patient support structure above the floor, for supporting a patient during a surgical procedure, the base including a pair of spaced opposed vertical translation subassemblies reversibly attachable to a patient support structure, a cross-bar, and a rotation subassembly having two degrees of rotational freedom; wherein a location of each vertical translation subassembly is substantially constant during operation of the patient support structure.