US 8,572,781 B2Granted

Portable extremity assessment and management device

AssigneeThe Ohio State University

InventorsRichard E. Schlanger, Patsy E. Martinsek

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Abstract

A device and method for elevating and supporting a patient's extremity to facilitate convenient examination and treatment of the extremity. The device includes a base, longitudinally-spaced upstanding support members extending upwardly from the base, and extremity securing mechanisms mounted to the upstanding support members upon which a patient's extremity can be positioned. The method generally includes extending a patient's extremity longitudinally across the extremity securing mechanisms and bringing the extremity to rest thereon. Caregivers and surgical teams are thus provided with access to the full circumference of the portion of the patient's extremity that extends between the extremity securing mechanisms. Several embodiments of the device incorporate means for assisting in the lifting of a patient's extremity to a desired height, including hydraulic rams, levers, and inflatable bladders.

Claims6

Dependent claims

An extremity assessment and management device for supporting at least one of a patient's extremities in an elevated position to facilitate access to said at least one extremity, the device comprising:

a. a planar base comprising fixed pivot points;
b. at least first and second pairs of upstanding support members pivotably connected to the base through said fixed pivot points on the base and secured to one another in a parallel configuration allowing said at least first and second pairs of upstanding support members to be simultaneously and uniformly pivoted between a collapsed position, wherein each of the upstanding support members is folded against the base, and an upright position, wherein each of the upstanding support members is transverse to the base;
and
c. at least a first and a second extremity securing mechanism, each mounted to a different one of said upstanding support members for engaging and supporting said at least one extremity;
and
wherein each of said extremity securing mechanisms extends across one of the first and second pairs of upstanding support members.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 12/920,254Filed 2 Mar 2009 · us provisional application
Priority: 29 Feb 2008
Published: US 2011/0000022 A16 Jan 2011
Granted: 5 Nov 2013
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification10 codes

A61G 13/12
Parts, details or accessories: rests specially adapted therefor; Arrangements of patient-supporting surfaces
A61F 5/3761
Restraining devices for the body or for body parts; Restraining shirts: for attaching the limbs to other objects
A61G 13/121
For specific parts of the body: head or neck
A61G 13/1235
For specific parts of the body: arms