Z-SHAPE SLIDING BOARD UTILIZING GRAVITY-ASSISTANCE FOR PATIENT LATERAL TRANSFER

Abstract

The present invention provides an apparatus and method for lateral transfer of patient between two platforms. In particular the invention provides an apparatus for lateral transfer of patient that facilitates gravity assisted transfer of patient with low effort and high protection from injury. The invention comprise a curved board for gravity assisted lateral transfer of patient comprising a top surface and a bottom surface having rectangular holes punched at the ends of the curved board. The curved board comprise of an elevated portion, a middle slanted portion, and a lower portion wherein the elevated portion is substantially raised relatively to the lower portion. In an embodiment of the present invention, the elevated portion of the curved board can be configured to shove beneath the bed sheet and the lower portion of the curved board can rest on flat surface of the adjacent low levelled second flat surface thus facilitating gravity assisted lateral transfer of patient which is performed by nurses by gently sliding the patient from the elevated surface to the lower surface via the slanted surface on the z-shaped curved board.

Claims

1. A curved board for gravity assisted lateral transfer of patient comprising a top surface and a bottom surface having rectangular holes punched at the ends of the curved board.

2. A curved board for gravity assisted lateral transfer of patient according to claim 1, wherein the curved board is made of substantially rigid soft textured material.

3. A curved board for gravity assisted lateral transfer of patient according to claim 1, comprising an elevated portion, a middle slanted portion, and a lower portion wherein the elevated portion is substantially raised relatively to the lower portion.

4. A curved board for gravity assisted lateral transfer of patient according to claim 1, wherein the curved board is substantially wide enough to provide a sliding platform for atleast upper half body of the patient.

5. A mechanism for gravity assisted lateral transfer of patient comprising a first flat surface, a second flat surface, one or more piece of fabric and the curved board wherein: the fabric is placed above the first flat surface as bedding; the second flat surface is levelled relatively below the level of adjacent first flat surface; the elevated portion of the curved board can be configured to shove beneath the said fabric and the lower portion of the curved board can rest on flat surface of the adjacent low levelled second flat surface

6. A mechanism for gravity assisted lateral transfer of patient according to claim 5, wherein gravity assisted lateral transfer of patient is performed by gently sliding the patient from the elevated surface to the lower surface via the slanted surface.

7. A mechanism for gravity assisted lateral transfer of patient according to claim 5, wherein the first flat surface can be slightly tilted by manual or electronic means to facilitate sliding of patient on the curved board.

8. A fabric or protection sheet used as bedding on first flat surface for patient comprising, an upper surface and a bottom surface wherein the upper surface is made of an absorbent material or fabric whereas the bottom surface is made up of a low friction material or fabric.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

[0027] FIG. 1 illustrates top perspective view of the embodiment of patient transfer device.

[0028] FIG. 2 illustrates top plan view of the embodiment of patient transfer device.

[0029] FIG. 3 illustrates bottom plan view of the embodiment of patient transfer device.

[0030] FIG. 4 illustrates right side view of the embodiment of patient transfer device.

[0031] FIG. 5 illustrates left side view of the embodiment of patient transfer device.

[0032] FIG. 6 illustrates an intended use of the patient transfer device.

[0033] FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrates patient on the patient transfer device in the initial position.

[0034] FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrates exemplary mechanism of transferring patient using patient transfer device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0035] The present invention relies on the recent findings that most activities of practical nurses and caregivers were frequent transfer of patients in beds, and moving patients in beds, and the changing posture or position of the patients at an average of 15 to 16 times per day. During this caregiving activity most nurses and caregivers get exposed to risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders while performing lateral transfer of patients due to factors like excessive reaching, pushing or pulling, bending, awkward posture/position, excessive load particularly effecting back, shoulders, hands, knees of nurse and caregivers.

[0036] During lateral transfer patients also get exposed to risk patients cannot be lifted like loads as patient's body is bulky and has asymmetric distribution of weight and do not possess available, stable areas to grip, thus it is not possible to predict what will happen while handling a patient. If not handled properly, the patient and even staff may slip, trip or fall which can cause serious injury to both. In small congested hospitals there may also be dearth of spaced due to small room or lots of equipment which may necessitate awkward positions and postures making the lateral transfer patient even more complicated to perform. There are other risk factors also that affect the process of lateral transfer of patient like no assistance available, inadequate equipment, lack of knowledge or training.

[0037] Therefore, it is recommended that manual lifting of residents should be minimized in all cases and eliminated when feasible. The use of effective patient handling aids should be always encouraged.

[0038] The present invention comprises a curved z-shaped board that offers gravity assisted lateral transfer of patient. The invention in an embodiment comprises a top surface and a bottom surface having rectangular holes punched at the ends of the curved board. The curved board is made of substantially rigid material for the purpose of smoothly sliding the patient's body from the operating table (first flat surface) to a moveable bed (second flat surface). The z-shaped sliding board may be made of any strong material with smooth surface i.e. High-Density PolyEthylene, Fiber Glass, stainless steel, or similar other materials. The z-shaped curved board has an appropriate size such that when it is placed beneath the patient's body it spans the area from head to legs and bridges from first flat surface to second flat surface in such a way that with the two flat surfaces levelled at different heights it forms a curved slope from first flat surface to second flat surface on which the patient can be moved/transferred laterally with minimal effort from the nursing staff who assist the move due to the gravity induced motion provided by the slope.

[0039] Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. These and other features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.

[0040] FIGS. 1 to 5 illustrates various embodiments of the curved z-shaped board 100.

[0041] The embodiment of the curved z-shaped board 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 comprise a top surface and a bottom surface having rectangular holes 101 and 102 punched along the opposite sides of the curved board 100 for the purpose of providing grip for carrying or placing the curved board. The curved board 100 is made of substantially rigid soft textured material for the purpose of smoothly sliding the patient's body from the operating table (first flat surface) to a moveable bed (second flat surface). The curved board is rigid enough to withhold the weight of any adult patient body and doesn't get deformed by body weight of the patient while performing his/her lateral transfer.

[0042] FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrates side view of the z shaped curved board 100 wherein the curved board comprise of an elevated portion 401, a middle slanted portion 402, and a lower portion 403 wherein the elevated portion 401 is substantially raised relatively to the lower portion 403 thereby forming a curved shaped board which can facilitate gravity assisted sliding lateral transfer of patients by sliding patient from elevated portion 401 to lower portion 403 through slanted portion 402. The curved board 100 may be substantially wide enough to provide a sliding platform for atleast head to feet area of an average human body

[0043] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The embodiment describes an initial position 601 of the patient 203 wherein the patient 203 is lying on first flat surface or operating table 201 and final position 602 which is intended to be achieved by performing successful lateral transfer of patient 203 using z shaped curved board 100. The first flat surface or operating table 201 on which patient 203 is lying may have one or more piece of fabric above it as bedding. A second flat surface or bed 202 is placed adjacently to the second flat surface B or moveable bed may be configured such that it is levelled relatively at 4-6 inches below the level of first flat surface. In order to transfer the patient from initial position 601 to final position 602 the elevated portion 401 of the curved board 100 is configured to shove beneath the said fabric upon which patient 203 is lying and the lower portion 403 of the curved board 100 can rest upon the adjacent low levelled second flat surface 202. Once the z shaped curved board 100 is properly configured, the gravity assisted lateral transfer of patient 203 is performed by gently sliding the patient 203 on the curved z-board 100 from the elevated portion 401 placed on first flat surface position 201 to the lower portion 403 on the second flat surface position 202 through the slanted portion 402 of z shaped curved board providing a sliding slope for gravity assisted lateral transfer of patient 203.

[0044] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the first flat surface or operating table 202 can be slightly tilted by manual or electronic means to facilitate nurses assistive sliding of patient 203 on the curved board 100.

[0045] FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention describing the best method of placing the z-shaped curved board 100. The z-shape curved board 100 has to be shoved beneath the fabric on which patient 203 is lying and the lower portion of the z-shaped curved board 100 is made to rest upon the adjacent low levelled second flat surface 202 in order to facilitate gentle sliding of the patient on the z-shaped curved board 100 from the first flat surface 201 position to the second flat surface position 202. The ideal placement of z-shaped curved board 100 has to be done in a manner that elevated portion rest at the middle of the first flat surface 201 and the lower portion rest at the middle of the second flat surface 202.

[0046] FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention describing the best method of performing lateral transfer of patient 203 by practical nurses or caregivers using z-shaped curved board. For safety it must be ensured that there are at least four nurses or caregiver to involve in lateral transfer of the patient. The positioning of four nurses such that first nurse 301 should stand at the side of first flat surface 201 i.e. (patient's side) for gently pushing the patient 203 over the z-shaped curved board 100, the second nurse 302 should stand at the side of second flat surface 202 such that second nurse 302 is standing opposite facing the first nurse 301 in order to gently pull the patient 203 while the first nurse 301 is pushing. The third nurse 303 and fourth nurse 304 should be standing near the head and legs of patient respectively for holding the patient 203 and assisting the first nurse 301 and second nurse 302 during gravity based lateral transfer of patient 203. The z-shaped curved board 100 ensures that lateral transfer of patient 203 can be performed safely by nurses using low muscular force without exposing nurses and patient 203 to potential injury during this process.

[0047] In an embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in FIG. 10, after the patient 203 has been transported from first flat surface 201 i.e. operating table to second flat surface 202 i.e. moveable bed the nurse can move the second flat surface 202 or moveable bed away to remove the z-shaped curved board 100.

[0048] In particular embodiment of the present invention, upper surface of the z-shaped curved board 100 may be configured to be smooth textured and bottom surface may be configured to have relatively high friction.

[0049] In an embodiment of the present invention, the fabric or protection sheet 1000 used as bedding for first flat surface 201 on which patient 203 is lying may comprise an upper surface made of absorbing material/fabric and bottom surface of the fabric sheet is made of a low friction material/fabric. The purpose of providing absorbing material or fabric on upper surface is manifold. Usually after long surgery, the patient might be lying on the bedsheet 1000 that got soaked wet with fluid and blood that seeped through the surgical drape during surgery. The caregiving staff wouldn't want to move that contaminated sheet with the patient 203 to a clean transporting bed 202. The ideal configuration of placing the sheet 1000 is between the patient's body 203 and the curved z-shaped board 100 for the lateral transfer. The purpose of the sheet 1000 is to protect the patient's skin from shearing or getting bruised from the z-shaped curved board 100 and to protect the z-shaped curved board from getting soiled from the fluids and blood of patients body. The ideal length of the sheet 1000 described here should be enough to provide bedding from head to feet of the patient 203. The additional purpose of providing absorbing material on the top surface is to absorb body moisture and sweat of a patient lying on sheet from a long duration. The bottom surface should be low-friction for the ease of lateral transfer. The bottom surface is provided with a low friction surface in order to keep it stick to the first flat surface 201 and don't let it get displaced unnecessarily thereby providing hassle free experience while performing lateral transfer of patient to second flat surface 202.

[0050] In yet another embodiment, one or more of the holes 101 and 102 may be disposed along the opposite sides of the curved board 100 for the purpose of carrying or placing the curved board.

[0051] By virtue of implementing the above embodiments, the invention provides a device 100 capable of gravity assisted low force lateral transfer solution. Additionally, the invention provides a low cost, portable solution that is capable of being used by a subject at home or in a hospital or clinic, and which facilitates gravity assisted low force transfer of the patient from one flat surface to other flat surface.

[0052] While the exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described and illustrated herein, it will be appreciated that they are merely illustrative. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications in form and detail may be made therein without departing from or offending the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Additionally, the invention illustratively disclosed herein suitably may be practiced in the absence of any element which is not specifically disclosed herein—and in particular embodiment specifically contemplated, is intended to be practiced in the absence of any element which is not specifically disclosed herein.