Apparatus for the stabilization of head position

A head-stabilizing apparatus adapted to position a head of a patient undergoing a medical procedure, the head-stabilizing apparatus comprising

• a patient locator including a mouthpiece adapted to be placed in a mouth of the patient undergoing the medical procedure and a mouthpiece anchor coupled to the mouthpiece to move therewith,
• a patient mask including a patient-locator mount adapted to mate with a patient-head guard configured to change between an unworn position in which the patient mask is spaced apart from a face of the patient and a patient-worn position in which the patient mask overlays the face of the patient and receives the head of the patient undergoing the medical procedure, and
• patient-locator retainer means for drawing the patient mask toward a stationary position on the patient locator as the patient-head guard is moved from the unworn position toward the patient-worn position to cause the mouthpiece anchor to extend into a patient-locator receiving passageway formed in the patient-locator mount while the patient is gripping the mouthpiece in their teeth to cause the mouthpiece anchor to project outwardly away from the face of the patient and for retaining the patient-locator mount of the patient mask in the stationary position relative to the mouthpiece anchor of the patient locator to hold the patient-head guard in the patient-worn position overlying the face of the patient after the patient-head guard is moved from the unworn position toward the patient-worn position so that the patient mask can be retained on the patient locator as the patient lies on a table prior to undergoing the medial procedure to keep the head of the patient stabilized during the medial procedure,
• wherein the patient-locator retainer means includes a pair of deflectable latches coupled to the mouthpiece anchor at a cantilevered root and a pair of retainer posts coupled to the patient-locator mount, the pair of deflectable latches configured to elastically deflect relative to the patient-locator mount as the pair of deflectable latches are inserted into the patient-locator receiving passageway formed in the patient-locator mount, and the pair of retainer posts configured to engage with the pair of deflectable latches when the patient-locator mount of the patient mask is in the stationary position to retain the patient-locator mount of the patient mask in the stationary position relative to the patient locator, a latch lock configured to be arranged around the retainer posts when the pair of deflectable latches are engaged with the retainer posts to block deflection of the pair of deflectable latches and prevent unintended removal of the patient mask from the patient locator.

A head-stabilizing apparatus adapted to position a head of a patient undergoing a medical procedure, the head-stabilizing apparatus comprising

• a patient locator including a mouthpiece adapted to be placed in a mouth of the patient undergoing the medical procedure and a mouthpiece anchor coupled to the mouthpiece to move therewith,
• a patient mask including a patient-locator mount adapted to mate with a patient-head guard configured to change between an unworn position in which the patient mask is spaced apart from a face of the patient and a patient-worn position in which the patient mask overlays the face of the patient and receives the head of the patient undergoing the medical procedure, and patient-locator retainer means for drawing the patient mask toward a stationary position on the patient locator as the patient-head guard is moved from the unworn position toward the patient-worn position to cause the mouthpiece anchor to extend into a patient-locator receiving passageway formed in the patient-locator mount while the patient is gripping the mouthpiece in their teeth to cause the mouthpiece anchor to project outwardly away from the face of the patient and for retaining the patient-locator mount of the patient mask in the stationary position relative to the mouthpiece anchor of the patient locator to hold the patient-head guard in the patient-worn position overlying the face of the patient after the patient-head guard is moved from the unworn position toward the patient-worn position so that the patient mask can be retained on the patient locator as the patient lies on a table prior to undergoing the medial procedure to keep the head of the patient stabilized during the medial procedure,
• wherein the patient-locator retainer means includes a pair of deflectable latches each coupled to the mouthpiece anchor at a cantilevered root that extend laterally away from the mouthpiece anchor to a distal end laterally spaced apart from the cantilevered root and a pair of retainer posts each coupled to the patient-locator mount that extend laterally away from the patient-locator mount on either side of the patient-locator receiving passageway, the pair of deflectable latches configured to elastically deflect relative to the patient-locator mount as the pair of deflectable latches are inserted into the patient-locator receiving passageway formed in the patient-locator mount, and the pair of retainer posts configured to engage with the pair of deflectable latches when the patient-locator mount of the patient mask is in the stationary position to retain the patient-locator mount of the patient mask in the stationary position relative to the patient locator.