An integrated and modular air and lighting plenum that is the primary directional lighting mounting apparatus and laminar flow diffuser of an HVAC system in a healthcare setting. The plenum provides laminar air flow from the ceiling to the room in which it is located in accordance with HVAC requirements for healthcare environment settings, by using a plurality of cylindrical airflow outlets. The use of cylindrical airflow outlets promotes laminar airflow by reducing sharp boundaries that induce turbulence (e.g., the corners of rectangular or square outlets) and creates a highly sterile environment around the patient and staff in the operating room. The surgical lights used in the integrated air and lighting plenum allow the beam direction, spot size, focal point, brightness, and color temperature of the emitted light to be controlled.

A pre-fabricated universal operating room ceiling system including red iron steel support frames and a track assembly immediately above the ceiling in the interstitial space of the operating room for supporting medical equipment including medical gas lines and electrical and data cabling and heating, ventilation and cooling trunk lines and ducts for reducing interference with such systems when installing or moving operating room equipment.

A combination patient-transfer air-inflated pad and intraoperative heater device has first and second interlocking chambers laterally fused together. The air-inflated pad has a top surface and a bottom surface formed by way of the first and second interlocking chambers. The first interlocking chamber is formed as a comb-type structure having a main spine with two or more prongs alternately separated by valleys. The second interlocking chamber is a mirror comb-type structure to the first interlocking chamber. The device is fabricated from two thin layers of plastic material, selectively configured and fused. With this construction, the bulk of the device, as well as the cost of manufacture, are reduced. The device is affordable for single use, obviating the difficulty and possible incompleteness of sterilization between uses. The first interlocking chamber has an inlet appointed to be supplied with regulated, controlled low pressure and controlled temperature heated or cooled air. The second interlocking chamber has a plurality of air venting apertures in said bottom surface of said air-inflated pad. The second interlocking chamber has an inlet appointed to be supplied with ambient air at a regulated, controlled pressure to facilitate lifting and lateral displacement during patient transfer. The device may be easily re-employed when the patient is transferred from one location to another and may function as an alternating pressure mattress if needed.

A patient support apparatus includes a frame having a supporting surface. A transmitting element is coupled to the frame. A surface assembly is selectively positioned on the supporting surface. The surface assembly includes a surface selectively enclosing an interior. A controller is communicatively coupled to the transmitting element. A sensor assembly is coupled to the surface assembly. The sensor assembly includes a sensor configured to sense information about at least one of the surface assembly and a person positioned on the surface assembly. A receiving assembly is operably coupled to the surface assembly and the sensor assembly. The receiving assembly is configured to selectively interact with the transmitting element via a charging interface to power the sensor assembly.

A topper (38) for a bed extends in longitudinal and lateral directions and includes a fluid flowpath (60) for channeling fluid through the topper from an inlet (62) to an outlet (64). The flowpath is configured to distribute the fluid to a preferred target region (50) of the topper. A bed which includes the topper has a blower (72) connected to the topper inlet for supplying air (88) to the flowpath.

A thermal transfer device for providing thermal treatment to a patient. A patient support portion supporting and contacting the patient includes a first segment of a fluid flow path to receive a fluid from a fluid source. A flexible covering coupled and movable relative to the patient support portion defines a space therebetween that substantially conforms to the patient. The flexible covering includes a second segment of the fluid flow path. The fluid is circulated through an inlet, an outlet, and fluid flow path for supplying heat to or removing heat from the patient support portion and the flexible covering. A fluid circulation system with a controller may selectively adjust heat transfer from temperature zones defining the patient support portion. The thermal transfer device or a mattress cover may provide for controlling the microclimate, or conditions at or near the interface between the patient and the patient support portion.

A moisture control coverlet (10) includes a fluid pathway for moisture removal fluid It is selectively configurable to use a first fluid pump (32), and/or an adaptor (34). The first fluid pump (32) can be mounted on the coverlet and coupled to the fluid pathway for pumping moisture removal fluid into or out of the fluid pathway. The adaptor (34) can be mounted on the coverlet and coupled to the fluid pathway and can be coupled to a second fluid pump (48) for pumping moisture removal fluid into or out of the fluid pathway.

Introduced are methods and systems for monitoring a person's sleeping patterns, and detecting episodes of sleeping disorders such as snoring and sleep apnea. In one embodiment, a sensor strip attached to the mattress monitors the user's breathing, and detects signature frequencies corresponding to snoring and sleep apnea. Once a sleeping disorder is detected, a notification can be sent to a device associated with the user, or the user's bed can be automatically adjusted to alleviate the sleeping disorder.

A temperature modulation system for a bed, blanket, or other furniture includes a fluid for moderating temperature change, a number of conduit circuits for directing the fluid through respective zones, a control unit including a thermoelectric device for modulating temperature of the fluid, and a pump. Each of the conduit circuits selectively and independently directs fluid through its respective zone in order to produce a temperature within the zone that is independent of the temperature outside the zone. The system also includes an arrangement of one or more zones in an arrangement in which the control unit is programmed to vary the zone temperature over time according to a schedule.

An evaluation system including a hardware system for collecting real-time data for evaluating sleeping comfort performance of a bedding system is disclosed. The hardware system includes a thermal and moisture comfort measurement system, a thermal and moisture comfort control system, a biomechanical comfort control system, and a biomechanical comfort measurement system. The evaluation system also includes a computational system having a processor and a tactile database, and a portable device. The computational system is configured to receive and process the real-time data from the hardware system, and is communicatively connected to the portable device for transmitting real-time data for evaluating the bedding system and adjusting the hardware system. A mobile application executable on the portable device is configured to collect subjective opinion of the sleeper using questionnaires, and the processor is configured to perform combined analysis of the subjective opinion and the real-time data of the bedding system.