Surgical Patient Support With Movable Leg Section for Prone Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical patient supports fail to provide efficient and safe positioning for patients during surgeries, particularly in lateral and prone positions, which are crucial for accessing specific surgical sites like the spine, and often require multiple repositioning, complicating surgical access and patient safety.
Innovation Solution
A surgical patient support device with a frame, actuator assembly, and movable leg section that allows for transitioning between supine, lateral, and prone positions, including a leg break feature, to facilitate access to surgical sites while maintaining patient safety and comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a surgical patient support provides fixed positioning for lateral or prone positions, then surgical access to specific sites is improved, but patient repositioning requires multiple separate devices or manual adjustment, increasing complexity and time
Solution Approach 1:
The leg section is designed with dynamic movement capability, allowing it to transition between raised and lowered positions through a controlled mechanism. This dynamic adjustment enables the support device to adapt to different surgical positioning requirements (lateral, prone, or intermediate positions) without requiring multiple separate devices, thereby improving versatility while maintaining manageable complexity through automation
Solution Approach 2:
The surgical patient support device integrates multiple positioning functions into a single device. The leg section can serve multiple purposes: providing leg break in lateral position, supporting prone position, and enabling transitional positions. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate positioning devices, reducing overall system complexity while enhancing adaptability
2Ease of operation
If the leg section is made movable between raised and lowered positions, then access to surgical sites is improved, but the mechanism requires actuators and control systems, increasing device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The actuator assembly is integrated directly into the support structure, with the actuator mounted on the frame and connected to the leg section through linkages. The system can autonomously adjust the leg section position through the actuator's extension and retraction, reducing the need for manual intervention and simplifying operation while the self-contained integration keeps complexity manageable
Solution Approach 2:
Cross links and cross arms serve as intermediary mechanical elements between the actuator and the leg section. These intermediaries translate the linear motion of the actuator into the required angular movement of the leg section, providing mechanical advantage and controlled motion while distributing the complexity across multiple simple components rather than a single complex mechanism
3Ease of operation
If the support structure includes angled sub-rails for leg section movement, then patient comfort and surgical access are improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The first sub-rails are designed with specific angled orientations relative to the torso rails, creating a geometric relationship that naturally guides the leg section through the desired movement arc. By carefully selecting the angle parameter of the sub-rails, the system achieves optimal patient positioning comfort and surgical access while the angle itself becomes a fixed manufacturing parameter rather than a variable requiring active control
Data Source
AI summary
According to the present disclosure, a surgical patient support provides support to a patient. The surgical patient support may include configuration to accommodate various patient body positions to provide a variety of access to the patient's body.