EP0136261A2 - Air-floatable anti-decubitus ulcers patient support - Google Patents

Abstract

Anti-decubitus air mattresses are known, but they have the disadvantage that they must be pumped up hard so that the patient's body does not press through onto the hard support. The invention provides a patient support in the form of an air mattress on which the patient gently floats, as if on water, without any part of the body pressing through onto the harder bed mattress. This effect is achieved by virtue of the fact that the entire patient support is divided up into transversely extending, soft air cushions which are independent of one another. In this way, the patient's body is suspended in a floating position. The bearing surface is in this way greatly increased, and the bearing pressure is greatly reduced. In addition, accentuated pressure spots are avoided, because the cushioning air is displaced by particularly heavy and bony body parts and is not compressed. The invention provides these advantages without using alternating pressure devices. <IMAGE>

Description

Various types of air mattresses are known to be used in the fight against pressure ulcers, especially those connected to alternating pressure devices. The known alternating pressure air mattresses have the disadvantage that the inflated air chambers have to be pumped hard in order to prevent the patient's body from pushing down on the bed mattress. This creates contact pressure on the patient's body of up to about 275 mm Hg, which prevents any capillary blood flow at the pressure points. Air mattresses that consist of a single or only a few air chambers must also be pumped hard, because otherwise the patient, with his bony, heavy parts of the body and especially when raising the head end, would press down on the bed mattress with the resulting excessive pressure values.

The invention provides an air flotation patient pad that allows the patient's body to float on softly inflated air chambers, similar to water. The narrowly inflated, narrow air cylinders (1) allow the body to be deeply embedded in the air chambers. This significantly increases the contact area and reduces the contact pressure accordingly. The small diameter of the individual air tubes and the resulting high number of tubes also prevent the patient's body from pushing through even when sitting in bed or on a chair. The invention thus provides a patient pad that continuously exerts a significantly low pressure on a patient's body than known alternating pressure air mattresses, and this without the use of expensive alternating air devices.

The invention is based in part on the observation that in patient pads which use solid materials as padding, such as foams, skins, etc., the areas under particularly bony, heavy parts of the body are compressed, as a result of which the pressure on these areas is particularly accentuated. This increases the risk of bedsores. When using water and air as upholstery, however, there is no such local pressure accentuation because these two materials are not compressed but displaced.

The air flotation pad can be made from a single piece of soft plastic material. In such a production, the cylindrical tubes (1) running transversely to the bed are closed at both ends by a weld seam (2) and the length is formed by a single weld seam (3). The one-piece plastic film thus forms cylinder walls (4) and cylinder connection (5), as well as fastening envelopes (6). Each individual cylindrical air hose has a welded-in air valve (7). As a result, particularly vulnerable or already damaged parts of the body can be bedded particularly softly. The air flotation patient pad can also be assembled from individual, individual air tubes and an additional cover. This form of pad makes it easier to repair or replace a damaged air hose.

• Fig. 1 Gesamtansicht einer Luft-Flotations-Matratze, die aus einem einzigen Stück Plastik gefertigt ist.
• Fig. 2 Detail von zwei einzelnen Luftröhren und ihrer Verbindung
• Fig. 3 Längsschnitt durch Luft-Flotations-Matratze mit aufliegendem Patientenkörper
• Fig. 4 Querschnitt durch Luft-Flotations-Matratze mit aufliegendem Patientenkörper
• Fig. 5 Zeigt eine technische Variante der Luft-Flotations-Matratze. Bei dieser Variante besteht die Unterlage aus einer Hülle (8) mit offenen Querröhren (9), in welche individuelle, mit Luft aufgeblasene Plastikzylinder (10) eingeschoben werden. Diese Variante hat zum Vorteil, dass einzelne, beschädigte Zylinder leicht entfernt und ausgewechselt werden können.
• Fig. 6 Zeigt eine weitere technische Alternative, wobei an der in Fig. 5 gezeigten Matratze auf den beiden Längsseiten je ein Längsrahmen angeschweisst wird. Diese Längsrahmen können mit Luft oder mit Schaumstoff gefüllt sein. Sie werden am Boden der Hülle (12) der gesamten Matratzen-Länge entlang angeschweisst. Dies erlaubt, den Rahmen nach unten zu kippen (13), wodurch die Röhrenenden freigelegt werden, damit die Luftzylinder (10) eingeschoben oder deren Luftinhalt reguliert werden können. Bei hochgeklappten Rahmenteilen (14) formen diese abschliessende Seitenkanten, wlche gleichzeitig für den Patienten einen stabilisierenden seitlichen Rahmen bilden.
• Fig. 7 Zeigt nochmals eine weitere technische Alternative, bei der die Patienten-Unterlage für einen liegenden Patienten in 3 Teile geteilt wird, die mit Hilfe von Velcro-Streifen (15) aneinander geheftet werden können. Diese Alternative gestattet die Verwendung von nur einer oder zwei Teil-Unterlagen für weniger gefährdete Patienten.
• Fig. 8 Zeigt die Luft-Flotations Unterlage, speziell bemessen für Rollstühle oder gewöhnliche Stühle und Sessel.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are given below with reference to the accompanying drawings:

• Fig. 1 General view of an air flotation mattress, which is made from a single piece of plastic.
• Fig. 2 detail of two individual air tubes and their connection
• Fig. 3 longitudinal section through air flotation mattress with patient body lying on
• Fig. 4 cross section through air flotation mattress with patient body lying on
• Fig. 5 shows a technical variant of the air flotation mattress. In this variant, the base consists of a casing (8) with open cross tubes (9) into which individual plastic cylinders (10) inflated with air are inserted. This variant has the advantage that individual, damaged cylinders can be easily removed and replaced.
• FIG. 6 shows a further technical alternative, with one longitudinal frame being welded onto the two longitudinal sides of the mattress shown in FIG. 5. These longitudinal frames can be with air or with Foam filled. They are welded along the entire length of the mattress at the bottom of the cover (12). This allows the frame to be tilted down (13), which exposes the tube ends so that the air cylinders (10) can be inserted or their air content can be regulated. When the frame parts (14) are folded up, they form final side edges, which at the same time form a stabilizing side frame for the patient.
• Fig. 7 shows yet another technical alternative, in which the patient support for a lying patient is divided into 3 parts, which can be attached to each other with the help of Velcro strips (15). This alternative allows the use of only one or two partial documents for less at-risk patients.
• Fig. 8 shows the air flotation pad, specially designed for wheelchairs or ordinary chairs and armchairs.

Claims (1)

An anti-decubitus air flotation patient pad made of soft plastic material. The entire lying or sitting area consists of a large number of individual, tubular air chambers running across the patient. Each air chamber can be inflated independently and has its own air valve. The air hoses are arranged parallel to each other and are longitudinally welded on their underside with regular intervals between all hoses, or individual hoses are used which are inserted into a sleeve which in turn holds the hoses in a parallel position and at regular intervals. The distances are chosen so that the patient's body cannot push through between two tubes at any point. The entire patient pad can be made from a single piece of plastic, or can be assembled from a sleeve and individual air tubes.

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