Inflatable mattress and control methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020297564-A1
Application number	US-202016898517-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 11, 2020
Priority date	Sep 5, 2012
Publication date	Sep 24, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

A patient support, such as a mattress, includes a plurality of inflatable bladders. Depth sensors are included in the support that measure the degree of penetration of a patient into the mattress. An air pressure sensor is also included that measures the pressure inside at least one bladder. A suitable inflation level of the mattress is determined by monitoring the rate of change of the depth with respect to air pressure as the bladder is either inflated or deflated. By detecting an inflection point in the graphical relationship of the depth and pressure outputs, a suitable inflation point for the bladders is determined that reduces interface pressures experienced by the patient, yet does not overly sink the patient into the mattress to a degree of discomfort. Analyzing the outputs of the depth and pressure sensors can also be used to detect a patient's heart rate and respiration rate.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A patient support comprising:
an inflatable bladder; an air pressure sensor adapted to generate air pressure signals indicative of air pressure inside of said inflatable bladder; and a controller configured to repetitively determine a suitable inflation level for said inflatable bladder for a particular patient positioned thereon based on said air pressure signals, and to update said inflation level based upon changes that affect the air pressure inside said inflatable bladder.

2 . The support of claim 1 , wherein said controller re-determines the suitable inflation level if the angle of one or more portions of the patient support changes by more than a threshold angular amount.

3 . The support of claim 2 , further comprising an angle sensor or tilt sensor to measure the angle of one of more portions of the patient support, wherein said controller automatically re-determines the suitable inflation level if the measured angle changes by more than a threshold angular amount.

4 . The support of claim 2 , wherein the controller re-determines the suitable inflation level using the weight of the patient.

5 . The support of claim 4 , further comprising a sensor to sense the weight of a patient supported on said inflatable bladder, wherein the controller automatically re-determines the suitable inflation level using the sensed weight of the patient.

6 . The support of claim 5 , further comprising an angle sensor or tilt sensor to measure the angle of one of more portions of the patient support, wherein said controller automatically re-determines the suitable inflation level if the measured angle changes by more than a threshold angular amount and the sensed weight of the patient.

7 . The support of claim 1 wherein said inflatable bladder is incorporated into a mattress and positioned at a location adapted to support a patient's sacral area.

8 . The support of claim 1 wherein said patient support includes:
a plurality of inflatable bladders;
a plurality of air pressure sensors, each air pressure sensor adapted to generate an air pressure signal indicative of a level of air pressure inside of a corresponding one of said inflatable bladders; and
wherein said controller is adapted to determine the suitable inflation level of two adjacent bladders of said plurality of inflatable bladders based on the air pressure signals of the adjacent bladders.

9 . The support of claim 8 wherein said controller is further adapted to control an air pressure inside of one of said two adjacent bladders so as to be offset from or a fixed ratio with respect to the air pressure inside of the other of said two adjacent bladders.

10 . The support of claim 1 , further comprising a depth sensor adapted to generate a depth signal indicative of how deeply a patient positioned on said patient support sinks into said inflatable bladder, and said adapted to further determine the suitable inflation level of said inflatable bladder based upon readings from said depth sensor.

11 . A patient support comprising:
a first inflatable bladder; a second inflatable bladder; an air pressure sensor adapted to generate an air pressure signal indicative an air pressure inside of said first inflatable bladder; and a controller adapted to determine a suitable inflation level of said first inflatable bladder based upon readings from said air pressure sensor, said controller further adapted to control an air pressure inside of said second bladder so as to be equal to, offset from, or a fixed ratio with respect to the air pressure inside of said first inflatable bladder, said fixed ratio having a value other than one.

12 . The support of claim 11 , wherein said first inflatable bladder and said second inflatable bladder each have a plurality of pods, said pods of said first inflatable bladder defining a first zone, said pods of said second inflatable bladder defining a second zone, and said first zone being independently inflated from said second zone.

13 . The support of claim 12 , wherein said first and second inflatable bladders are incorporated into a mattress, and at least one of said first and second zones is positioned at a location adapted to support a patient's sacral area.

14 . The support of claim 12 , further including a third inflatable bladder, wherein said controller is adapted to determine a suitable inflation level of said third bladder based upon the suitable inflation level of said second bladder.

15 . The support of claim 12 , further including a plurality of air pressure sensors for generating a plurality of air pressure signals indicative of the air pressure in plurality of different portions of said second inflatable bladder, wherein said controller determines the suitable inflation level of said second bladder by monitoring all of said plurality of air pressure signals.

16 . The support of claim 12 , further including a plurality of depth sensors for generating a plurality of depth signals indicative of how deeply a patient positioned on said patient support sinks into a plurality of different portions of said first inflatable bladder wherein said controller determines the suitable inflation level of said first inflatable bladder by monitoring the rate of change of the depth signals with respect to the air pressure signals for each of the plurality of depth sensors.

17 . A patient support comprising:
a first inflatable bladder; a second inflatable bladder hermetically sealed from said first bladder; and a controller adapted to measure the air pressure in said first and second inflatable bladders and controlling the air pressure inside both said first and second inflatable bladders to inflation levels that are determined based upon the air pressure of at least one of said first and second inflatable bladders.

18 . The support of claim 17 , further including a plurality of depth sensors for generating a plurality of depth signals indicative of how deeply a patient positioned on said patient support sinks into said first and second inflatable bladders, wherein said controller determines the suitable inflation levels of said bladders by monitoring all of said plurality of depth signals.

19 . The support of claim 17 , wherein said controller is further adapted to control an air pressure inside of said second bladder so as to be offset from or a fixed ratio of other than one with respect to the air pressure inside of said first inflatable bladder.

20 . The support of claim 17 , wherein said first and second inflatable bladders are incorporated into a mattress, and one of said first and second inflatable bladders forms a left zone of the mattress, and the other of said first and second inflatable bladders forms a right zone of the mattress.

Assignees

• Stryker Corp

Inventors

• Lafleche Patrick
• Bhimavarapu Krishna Sandeep
• Seshadrinathan Manikantan
• Robertson Donna-Marie

Classifications

• A61G7/05769 Primary

  with inflatable chambers · CPC title

• A61G2203/34

  for pressure · CPC title

• A61B5/024

  Measuring pulse rate or heart rate · CPC title

• A61G2203/40

  for distance · CPC title

• A61B5/0205

  Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular conditions and different types of body conditions, e.g. heart and respiratory condition · CPC title