SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING FLUID TO A DISTRIBUTED NETWORK OF CHAMBERS

Abstract

The fluid manifold system includes one or more primary chambers and one or more secondary chambers. Each of the one or more secondary chambers contains a volume of fluid and is connected to an underlying primary chamber, which also contains a volume of fluid. Valves are provided, either distributed throughout the manifold to minimize flow restriction or collected into one or more discrete valve manifolds, which are removably connected to the primary and secondary chambers with flexible tubing or the like. Activating a single valve disconnects one or more of the secondary chambers from the associated primary chamber and connects the same one or more secondary chambers to an alternate primary chamber.

Claims

1. A fluid manifold system, comprising: one or more primary chambers and one or more secondary chambers; each of the one or more secondary chambers contains a volume of fluid and is connected to a respective underlying primary chamber, which also contains a volume of fluid; a plurality of valves either distributed throughout the manifold to minimize flow restriction or collected into one or more discrete valve manifolds which are removably fluidly connected to the primary and secondary chambers; and wherein activating a single valve disconnects one or more of the secondary chambers from the associated primary chamber and connects the same one or more secondary chambers to an alternate primary chamber.

2. The manifold system of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more of the primary and/or secondary chambers are made from a flexible material such as thermoplastic polyurethane, thermoformable plastic, polymer or natural rubber.

3. The manifold system of claim 1, wherein each of the chambers are defined by three sheets of flexible material; each of the three sheets are made of thermoplastic polyurethane, thermoformable plastic, polymer or natural rubber.

4. The manifold system of claim 1, wherein the fluid is air.

5. The manifold system of claim 1, wherein the valves are solenoid valves.

6. The manifold system of claim 1, wherein secondary chambers are arranged in a rectangular array.

7. The manifold system of claim 1, wherein an alternate primary chamber to which each valve can connect one or more of the secondary chambers is the atmospheric environment surrounding the manifold system.

8. The manifold system of claim 1, wherein one or more of the secondary chambers are collected into one or more groups in such a manner that flow between the grouped secondary chambers and a primary chamber is regulated by a single valve for each group.

9. The manifold system of claim 1, wherein the manifold system prevents and/or treats decubitus ulcers in humans.

10. The manifold system of claim 1, wherein the one or more of the primary chambers has one or more orifices through which a volume of fluid can be evacuated rapidly.

11. The manifold system of claim 1, wherein one or more secondary chambers are connected by one or more valves to one of two primary chambers, where one of the primary chambers is encapsulated between layers of flexible material attached to the structure of the secondary chambers and the other primary chamber is the surrounding environment.

12. The manifold system of claim 1, wherein the secondary chambers are connected by valves to one of two or more primary chambers, each of which is encapsulated between layers of flexible material attached to the structure of the secondary chambers, and one of which that may or may not be the surrounding environment.

13. The manifold system of claim 1, wherein multiple instances of the manifold system are provided and connected together by a mechanical or fluid transport structure in such a way that the multiple manifolds function together as a single system.

14. The manifold system of claim 1, further comprising mechanical load sensors configured and arranged for implementing a closed-loop control system.

15. The manifold system of claim 1, wherein fluid pressure sensors are provided and configured and arranged for the implementing a closed-loop control system.

16. The manifold of claim 1, wherein the valves are respectively fluidly connected to corresponding manifolds by flexible tubing.

17. The manifold of claim 1, wherein additional primary chambers and an additional common manifold provide an additional structure to connect patient support chambers to group them in a way that manages pressure redistribution in body regions; the chambers allowing pressure to flow to/from these chamber groupings.

18. The manifold of claim 1, further comprising an exhaust area to a common chamber so fluid can be reused in another region that requires air or has a lower pressure.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURES

[0015] FIGS. 1A-C show respective plan views of the top sheet, middle sheet and bottom sheet of the system of the present invention;

[0016] FIGS. 2A-C show respective perspective views of the top sheet, middle sheet and bottom sheet of the system of the present invention;

[0017] FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the manifold system of the present invention;

[0018] FIG. 4 shows an alternative embodiment of the present invention with a plurality of primary chambers:

[0019] FIGS. 5A and 5B show channel groupings in accordance with the present invention; and

[0020] FIG. 6 show a flow chart of the control system of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] The present invention addresses these limitations with a distributed network of valves, essentially running electrical wires rather than tubing throughout the system. As shown in FIGS. 1A-C, a plan view of the preferred embodiment is achieved by a multi-layer, flexible mat 20 in which an array of patient support chambers 10 are provided. FIGS. 2A-C show perspective views of the respective top 11, middle 12 and bottom sheets 16.

[0022] In FIGS. 1A and 2A, the top sheet 11, is shown, which is preferably made of polyurethane. This top sheet 11 is bonded to a middle sheet 12, which is shown in FIGS. 1B and 2B. The middle sheet 12 is preferably made of polyurethane, containing shorter thermoformed chambers 13, all of which are interconnected via intercommunication channels 14 with each other. Finally, a third unformed sheet 16, as seen in FIGS. 1C and 2C, is preferably made of polyurethane, is bonded to the bottom of the middle sheet 12.

[0023] FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the assembled top sheet 11, middle sheet 12 and bottom sheet 16 focusing on a single chamber for illustrative purposes and for ease of discussion. It should be understood that an array of such chambers are provided in accordance with the present invention. A valve adapter component 21 or series of valve adapter components 21 allow for the mechanical and fluidic connection of valve 22 or valves 22 which, in their unactuated states, allow air to flow between the interconnected lower layer 23, called a primary chamber and individual patient support chambers 10, also called a secondary chamber 4 or secondary chambers via an orifice 17 in the middle sheet. This forms a flexible manifold, generally referenced as 24. For ease of illustration, valve 22 is conceptually shown as interconnected to the valve adapter component 21.

[0024] Since the middle sheet 12 is thermoformed with intercommunication channels, it can be determined how adjacent cells communicate (i.e. share air with each other). For example, there may be four-way intercommunication channels, but depending on application, there may be less than four cells or greater than four, such as cells diagonally connected. For example, with bolsters that line the sides of the bed, which act as soft walls on the side of the bed to prevent patients from falling out of bed, it may only require intercommunication channels that run lengthwise of the bed since these bolsters tend to be higher pressure than the actual patient support surface.

[0025] In this embodiment, actuating a valve 22 causes fluid such as pressurized air inside the associated patient support chamber 10 to exhaust and thereby reduces contact pressure in a region of the patient's skin 18. The exhaust can be to another flexible manifold 24 or to atmosphere. When multiple manifolds 24 are interconnected and used in conjunction with a control system 30, as seen in FIG. 6, for managing the valves 22 of the manifolds 24, the resulting mat 20 is capable of selectively reducing patient tissue interface pressure with high spatial resolution. As in FIG. 6, the control system 30 includes one or more sensors 19 which monitor parameters of interest related to tissue interface pressure for one or more manifolds 24. The data from the sensors 19 are fed into an algorithm 31 which is used to control the valve 22 for each manifold 24 or groups of manifolds 24. The sensor 19 can be integral to the manifold 24 or external to the manifold 24, and can measure patient displacement, skin interface pressure, chamber pressure, among others. An exemplar would be a pressure sensor 32, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, that is placed between the patient support chamber 10 and a patient's skin 18.

[0026] FIG. 4 shows a configuration of the present invention where two primary chambers 23 are used to form a manifold 24. In this configuration, two middle sheets 12 are positioned between the top sheet 11 and the bottom sheet 16. The valve adapter component 21 and valve 22 allows selection of which primary chamber 23 is operably connected to the secondary chamber 10 at any given time.

[0027] FIGS. 5A and 5B shows how multiple primary chambers 23 are utilized to form grouping channel 15 that allow multiple secondary chambers to be controlled by a single valve 22. More specifically, FIG. 5A shows normal, non-grouped cell channels while FIG. 5B shows a channel structure for cell grouping.

[0028] In accordance with the present invention, the additional primary chambers 10 provides an additional common manifold that could be used to provide an additional structure to connect patient support chambers 10 to group them in a way that manages pressure redistribution in body regions (e.g., high pressure regions including heels, head, and pelvis). The chambers allow pressure to flow to/from these chamber groupings.

[0029] Alternatively, it is further possible that a structure to exhaust fluid to a common chamber 10 so fluid can be reused in another region that requires air or has a lower pressure. This reduces the need to run pumps to save power and reduce sound. Further, if the fluid is liquid, it is possible to exhaust the fluid to common chamber for fluid management.

[0030] Still further, it is envisioned to provide different pressure set points where a higher pressure could be used to inflate a patient support chambers that comprise, for example, a patient support surface, quickly (e.g. starting from complete deflation) and another to provide slower more gradual inflation for better control and improved user experience

[0031] For rapid deflation of patient support chambers. For example, if CPR needs to be performed, the air in the patient support surfaces can be quickly deflated so the patient is on a rigid surface.

[0032] In other embodiments, the manifold system 20 may be fabricated from rigid materials, semi-rigid materials, or a combination of materials of varying rigidity. The secondary chamber 24 need not be rectangular in shape in all embodiments, nor need they be arranged in a rectangular array. In some embodiments the working fluid may be a substance other than air. In another embodiment, the valves 22 can be in a central location and tubing can be run from the flexible manifold 24 to the central location where the valves 22 are located. Further, tube-like structure can be formed within the flexible manifold and run to the central location where the valves are located.

[0033] The system for providing fluid to a distributed network of chambers described above is not limited in application to medical therapies. Similar embodiments are envisioned in which manifolds are employed for purposes such as precision positioning of materials.