Portable mattress for treating decubitus ulcers

A portable patient support system, comprising:

• a mattress unit having inflatable bladder means therein, and having operational and collapsed states in which said bladder means is respectively inflated and deflated, wherein in said operational state said mattress unit has a downwardly facing bottom surface, said mattress unit having at one end thereof a foot section, and having means defining in said foot section a recess which opens through said bottom surface;
• a control unit having a size and shape permitting it to be received in its entirety within said recess, said control unit having means for facilitating transport thereof in a non-operational state thereof, said means for facilitating transport including wheels rotatably supported on said control unit;
• and means for operatively coupling said control unit to said bladder means within said mattress unit to facilitate control by said control unit of a pressure within said bladder means.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a mattress unit having an external cover made of flexible material, a containment part provided within said cover, said containment part having therein a plurality of transverse horizontal first-mentioned openings, a pocket containing foam material located below said first-mentioned openings, said containment part further having at a foot end thereof a plurality of further openings which extend horizontally and transversely, which have a lesser vertical height than said first-mentioned openings and which each have removably disposed therein an elongate bladder, and including below said further openings a further pocket having further foam therein.

A mattress system, comprising:

• an inflatable bladder, a control unit which is operationally coupled to said inflatable bladder and which controls a pressure in said inflatable bladder as a function of a plurality of control parameters, and a control panel which is physically separate from and operationally coupled to said control unit and which facilitates manual setting of said control parameters, said control panel being a self-contained unit of flat and thin shape having manually operable keys on one side thereof, and having two straps secured to a housing of said control panel at spaced locations thereon, and fastening means for releasably coupling one end of each said strap to an opposite end thereof.