Therapeutic support for the reduction of decubitus ulcers
AssigneeSand Therapeutic, Inc.
InventorSteven M. Gronsman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention relates to a therapeutic seat or bed for reducing the likelihood of decubitus ulcers, which can form in the skin surrounding a weight-bearing bony protrusion. The seat or bed includes one or more compressible supports in a cushion that can be moved between a compressed, relaxed, or inflated state to relieve pressure from the skin surrounding the bony protrusion to increase the blood flow or stimulate the blood flow through the area surrounding the bony protrusion.
Claims33
A therapeutic support for supporting a posterior body portion of a person and reducing pressure at a weight-bearing area of the posterior body portion to improve blood flow in the weight-bearing area and thereby aid in the healing of decubitus ulcers and reduce the likelihood of the formation thereof at the weight-bearing area, the therapeutic support comprising:
- a cushion having an upper surface, the cushion being sized to support at least one weight-bearing area of the nosterior body portion placed in contact with the upper surface and formed with a cell cavity at a location corresponding to a weight-bearing portion of the posterior body portion;
- and
- a compressible cell received in the cell cavity and having a configuration complementary thereto, having an upper surface and the cell being compressible from a relaxed state to a compressed state;
- whereby, when the compressible cell is in the relaxed state, the upper surface of the cushion and the upper surface of the cell support the weight-bearing area of the posterior body portion and the surrounding non-weight-bearing area, and when the cell is in the compressed state, pressure on the weight-bearing area is reduced.
A therapeutic support for supporting a posterior body portion of a person and reducing pressure at weight-bearing areas of the posterior body portion to improve blood flow in the weight-bearing areas and thereby aid in the healing of decubitus ulcers and reduce the likelihood of the formation thereof the therapeutic support comprising:
- a cushion having an upper surface, the cushion being sized to support multiple weight-bearing areas of a posterior body portion placed in contact with the upper surface and formed with a plurality of cell cavities at locations respectively corresponding to the weight-bearing portions of the posterior body portion;
- and
- a plurality of compressible cells equal in number to the cell cavities, each of the cells being received in a respective cell cavity and having a configuration complementary thereto, each of the cells being compressible from a relaxed state to a compressed state, an upper surface portion of each of the cells being substantially at the height of the upper surface of the cushion when the cell is in the relaxed state, the upper surface portion of the cell being lower than the upper surface of the cushion when the cell is in the compressed state;
- whereby, when any one of the cells is in the relaxed state, the upper surface of the cushion and the upper surface portion of said one cell form a substantially continuous surface for supporting the non-weight-bearing areas of the posterior body portion and the weight-bearing area thereof corresponding to said one cell, and when said one cell is in the compressed state, pressure on the corresponding weight-bearing area is reduced.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.