KR102117746B1 - Mattress for preventing pressure sore - Google Patents

Abstract

The mattress for preventing bedsores according to the present invention alternately comprises a pneumatic mattress composed of at least two air cells, at least one pressure sensor that measures a pressure applied to the pneumatic mattress to generate a pressure value, and a pneumatic motor connected to each air cell. It controls the alternating flotation between neighboring air cells by operating, and includes a control module that dynamically changes the alternate flotation time of the air cells according to the pressure value received from the pressure sensor.

Description

Mattress for prevention of bedsores {MATTRESS FOR PREVENTING PRESSURE SORE}

The present invention relates to an anti-bedsore mattress, and more particularly, to an anti-bedsore mattress performing an operation for user-specific posture control.

Pressure sores, also called pressure ulcers, refers to a phenomenon in which blood circulation disorder occurs and damage to the subcutaneous tissue occurs due to constant pressure applied to a specific area when sitting or lying in a fixed position. Bedsores are common in patients who are unconscious, patients with brain or spinal nerve damage, critical patients, elderly patients, patients with chronic diseases, chronically debilitating patients, and patients lying in bed. These patients do not feel discomfort in the place under pressure even when they are in the same posture for a long time. Even if they feel uncomfortable, they are susceptible to pressure damage because they do not have the ability to change their posture. Accordingly, various products have been proposed to prevent bedsores in patients and to reduce the caregiver's labor.

However, the products proposed in the related art are mostly passive products that relieve pressure by the design form of the products and products of an open loop system. These products have a limitation that they do not properly reflect the current state of the patient because they want to relieve pressure with a predetermined shape or a constant motion. In order to prevent bedsores, it is necessary to grasp the characteristics of the patient and perform a pressure relief method tailored to the patient accordingly. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a product that automatically identifies the pressure part of the patient and dynamically determines the appropriate pressure relief method. .

Korean Registered Patent No. 10-1798498 Korean Registered Patent No. 10-1810594

One aspect of the present invention provides a mattress for preventing bedsores performing alternate flotation according to an operation mode optimized for a patient's condition by variably performing various operation modes through a closed loop system.

The technical problem of the present invention is not limited to the technical problem mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

Mattress for preventing bedsores according to an embodiment of the present invention, a pneumatic mattress consisting of at least two air cells, at least one pressure sensor to measure the pressure applied to the pneumatic mattress to generate a pressure value, and the air pressure connected to each air cell It includes a control module for operating the motor alternately to control the alternate flotation between neighboring air cells, but dynamically changes the alternate flotation time of the air cells according to the pressure value received from the pressure sensor.

The control module operates in any one of a timer mode, a pressure mode, and a manual mode, calculates an average value of a plurality of pressure values received from the pressure sensors disposed at different positions, and calculates a plurality of values calculated at predetermined time intervals. When it is determined that the maximum average value among the average values exceeds the preset threshold value, the pressure mode for dynamically determining the alternate flotation time according to the size of the maximum average value may be activated.

The control module may control an alternating operation cycle of the pneumatic motor such that the alternate stimulation cycle is shortened as the maximum average value increases during a section operated in the pressure mode.

Further comprising a communication module for communicating with a user terminal, the control module, when receiving a control signal from the user terminal through the communication module, the manual mode for controlling the shift in accordance with the control signal can be activated .

In the control module, when it is determined that the maximum average value is equal to or less than a preset threshold value and the control signal is not received for a predetermined time, the timer mode for controlling the shift levitation at regular time intervals may be activated.

According to one aspect of the present invention described above, the operation mode is changed in real time according to the size of the pressure value to automatically set the optimal shift time for each user, and accordingly, it is possible to effectively prevent the patient's pressure sores.

1 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a mattress for preventing bedsores according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of the control module of FIG. 1.
3 is a diagram illustrating an example of image information displayed on a user terminal.
4 is a flowchart illustrating a specific method in which the control module determines whether to activate the pressure mode.
5 is a cross-sectional view of the first air cell according to the alternate flotation in the front-rear direction.

For a detailed description of the present invention, which will be described later, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that illustrate, by way of example, specific embodiments in which the present invention may be practiced. These examples are described in detail enough to enable those skilled in the art to practice the present invention. It should be understood that the various embodiments of the invention are different, but need not be mutually exclusive. For example, the specific shapes, structures, and properties described herein can be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in connection with one embodiment. In addition, it should be understood that the location or placement of individual components within each disclosed embodiment can be changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the following detailed description is not intended to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention, if appropriately described, is limited only by the appended claims, along with all ranges equivalent to those claimed. In the drawings, similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar functions throughout several aspects.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

1 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a mattress 1 for preventing bedsores according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Specifically, the mattress 1 for preventing bedsores according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a pneumatic mattress 100, a pressure sensor 200, a pneumatic motor 300 and a control module 400.

The pneumatic mattress 100 is a portion in direct contact with a patient, and may be composed of at least two air cells 110 and 120. In the illustrated drawing, the pneumatic mattress 100 is composed of a first air cell 110 and a second air cell 120, but in another embodiment of the present invention, the pneumatic mattress 100 may be composed of three or more air cells. have.

The first air cell 110 and the second air cell 120 may be arranged such that the side surfaces are adjacent to each other. For example, the right side surface of the first air cell 110 and the left side surface of the second air cell 120 may be disposed to face each other. At this time, the distance between the first air cell 110 and the second air cell 120 may be arranged to be less than or equal to a predetermined distance or may be arranged to contact each other.

Each air cell (110, 120) is provided with a space for receiving air therein, the air may be introduced into the air cells (110, 120) or the introduced air may be discharged by the pneumatic motor (300) described later. have. Each air cell (110, 120) is composed of a plurality of sub-cells (S, S '), any one of the sub-cell (S) is provided to have a different height from the neighboring sub-cell (S') Can be. Therefore, each of the air cells 110 and 120 may have a curved upper surface.

A pressure sensing pad 250 may be disposed on a lower surface of the pneumatic mattress 100, and a plurality of pressure sensors 200 may be distributedly disposed on the pressure sensing pad 250. That is, the pressure sensor 200 may be disposed on the lower surface of the pneumatic mattress 100 to detect the pressure applied to the pneumatic mattress 100, and to detect at what part of the pneumatic mattress 100 pressure is generated. . The pressure sensor 200 may be wired or wirelessly connected to the control module 400 described below to transmit the measured pressure value to the control module 400.

The pneumatic motor 300 is a motor that injects air into the pneumatic mattress 100, and the number of the pneumatic motors 300 may be determined according to the number of air cells. For example, as shown, when the pneumatic mattress 100 is composed of two air cells 110 and 120, two pneumatic motors 300 are also provided, and one pneumatic motor 300 is provided with one air cell. Can be connected. That is, the first pneumatic motor 310 may be connected to the first air cell 110 and the second pneumatic motor 320 may be connected to the second air cell 120.

At this time, the pneumatic motors 310 and 320 and the air cells 110 and 120 are connected to tubes 312 and 322 through which air reciprocates, and thus the air cells 110 by pneumatics generated by the pneumatic motors 310 and 320 , 120) When air is injected into the interior or when the pneumatic motors 310 and 320 do not operate, air injected into the air cells 110 and 120 may be discharged through the tubes 312 and 322.

Solenoid valves 311 and 321 may be disposed between the pneumatic motors 310 and 320 and the air cells 110 and 120. Opening and closing of the solenoid valves 311 and 321 may be controlled by the control module 400. When the solenoid valves 311 and 321 are opened, the air cells 110 and 120 communicate with the tubes 312 and 322, and when the solenoid valves 311 and 321 are closed, the air cells 110 and 120 and the tube 312 are closed. , 322) can be blocked to control the flow of air. In addition, a check valve (not shown) is installed between the first pneumatic motor 310 and the first solenoid valve 311, and between the second pneumatic motor 320 and the second solenoid valve 321, respectively. It is possible to reduce loss and prevent air from moving in the reverse direction during the operation of the pneumatic motor 300.

The control module 400 may control the overall operation of the mattress 1 for preventing bedsores according to the present invention. Particularly, the control module 400 forms a circuit with the pneumatic motor 300 and the solenoid valves 311 and 321, thereby alternately operating the different pneumatic motors 300 to form air between the air cells 110 and 120. You can control the shift support. In this regard, it will be described with reference to FIG. 2 together.

2 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of the control module 400 of FIG. 1.

Specifically, the control module 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an MCU 410, a relay switch 420 and a communication module 430. At this time, the MCU 410, the relay switch 420 and the communication module 430 are installed on the PCB board, and the PCB board may be an Arduino-based main board, but is not limited thereto.

The microcontroller unit (MCU) 410 is connected to the relay switch 420 and the communication module 430, processes data received by the control module 400 through the communication module 430, and at least one is processed according to the result. The relay switch 420 may be controlled to perform alternate flotation between the air cells 110 and 120 or to transmit the processed result to an external device through the communication module 430.

The relay switch 420 is controlled by the MCU 410, and may be electrically connected to any one pneumatic motor 300 or any solenoid valve. For example, the first relay switch 421 is connected to the first pneumatic motor 310, the second relay switch 422 is connected to the first solenoid valve 311, and the third relay switch 423 is It is connected to the second pneumatic motor 320, and the fourth relay switch 424 may be connected to the second solenoid valve 321. Accordingly, the control module 400 may alternately operate the pneumatic motor or control the opening or blocking of the solenoid valve by turning the relay switch 420 ON / OFF by a control signal generated from the MCU 410.

As a specific example, the MCU 410 turns on the first relay switch 421 to operate the first pneumatic motor 310, and turns on the second relay switch 422 to open the first solenoid valve 311. By controlling, it is possible to control the air to flow into the first air cell 110. At the same time, the MCU 410 controls the second driving motor 320 not to operate by maintaining the third relay switch 423 in the OFF state, while turning on the fourth relay switch 424 to turn the second solenoid valve ( By opening 252, the air stored in the second air cell 120 can be controlled to escape through the tube 322 connected to the second air cell 120. Thereafter, when it is determined that sufficient air has flowed into the first air cell 110 through the first pneumatic motor 310, the MCU 410 shuts off the first solenoid valve 311 to first air cell 110 It can be controlled to prevent the inflow of air from escaping. Accordingly, a pressure difference may occur between the first air cell 110 and the second air cell 120 to relieve pressure on the patient's body located in the portion where the height difference occurs.

In this way, the MCU 410 turns on the third relay switch 423 after a predetermined time elapses, and the first relay switch 421 maintains an OFF state so that air is injected only into the second air cell 120. It is possible to perform alternate flotation by alternately injecting air into the first air cell 110 and the second air cell 120 by controlling.

The communication module 430 may perform wired or wireless communication with an external device. Specifically, the communication module 430 may communicate with the plurality of pressure sensors 200 to receive pressure values measured by the pressure sensors 200.

In addition, the communication module 430 may communicate with a user terminal possessed by a patient, a caregiver, or a guardian using the mattress 1 for preventing bedsores according to the present invention. The communication module 430 transmits the pressure value received from the pressure sensor 200 or data generated by the control module 400 to the user terminal, so that the user can remotely check the pressure sore state using the user terminal. Do. In this regard, it will be described with reference to FIG. 3 together.

3 is a diagram illustrating an example of image information displayed on a user terminal.

The user terminal may be pre-installed with an application for communicating with the communication module 430, for example, when the application is executed, accesses a management server that manages data received from the communication module 430 to access various information about the patient. It can be output to the screen of the user terminal.

In the illustrated embodiment, the front-end design of the entire page can be written in an Html Mark-up language that draws the transferred data used on the web.

The sidebar placed on the left side of the screen can consist of three items: dashboard, patient information, and map. When the patient information tab is selected, a screen is provided to record various information about the patient, such as gender, age, name, address, major symptoms, onset date and time, and the user can view patient information through the patient information tab. You can record and confirm. When the map tab is selected, the patient's current location may be displayed on pre-stored map data.

The illustrated embodiment is a diagram showing an example in which a dashboard tab is selected, and when the dashboard tab is selected as shown, information about a patient's state, pressure state, and maximum pressure may be output as graphic information. Specifically, in the patient state area, information on which part of the patient has a pressure sore, or in which part there is a risk of pressure sores may be displayed for each body part. In addition, in the pressure state region, pressure values measured from the pressure sensor 200 may be classified by location, such as a head, waist, and legs, and the pressure values for each location may be represented in the form of a gauge bar. And, in the maximum pressure region, the maximum pressure value among the collected pressure values can be derived and expressed in the form of a gauge bar.

In addition, the user can remotely control the operation mode of the mattress 1 for preventing bedsores according to the present invention by selecting the timer mode area and the alternate flotation on / off area arranged on the bottom UI. For example, the mattress 1 for preventing bedsores may be operated in the timer mode when the timer mode region is selected, and the mattress 1 for preventing bedsores may be operated in the manual mode when the alternate flotation on / off region is selected. . Details related to this will be described later.

Therefore, by connecting to the management server that manages the bedsore prevention mattress 1 by using the user terminal, the user can check the patient's condition in real time and control the alternate flotation through the pressure gauge bar without limitation in time and place.

Meanwhile, the control module 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention may dynamically change the alternate flotation time of the air cell. To this end, the control module 400, the control module 400 may be operated in any one of a timer mode, a pressure mode and a manual mode.

In a general situation, the timer mode may be activated in the control module 400. When the timer mode is activated, the control module 400 may control the shift to be performed at predetermined time intervals (for example, 30 minutes).

In addition, when the control module 400 receives the control signal from the user terminal, the manual mode may be activated. As described above, when the user selects the shift flotation on / off area displayed on the user terminal, the user terminal generates a control signal (shift flotation on control signal or shift flotation off control signal) for this, and transmits it to the management server. The management server may transmit the received control signal to the control module 400. The control module 400 may be operated in a manual mode that controls the execution or stop of alternate flotation according to the type of the received control signal.

Meanwhile, the control module 400 may determine whether to automatically activate the pressure mode by analyzing the pressure value received from the pressure sensor 200 in the process of operating in the timer mode or the manual mode. In this regard, it will be described with reference to FIG. 4 together.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a specific flow in which the control module 400 determines whether to activate the pressure mode.

First, the control module 400 may receive a plurality of pressure values from the plurality of pressure sensors 200 through the communication module 430 (41). The control module 400 may calculate an average value representing the average pressure of the received pressure values (42). At this time, the control module may calculate an average value at predetermined predetermined periodic intervals.

The control module 400 may compare a plurality of average values periodically calculated for a predetermined time and extract an average value representing the largest value as the maximum average value (43). The control module 400 may compare the extracted maximum average value with a predetermined threshold (44).

At this time, if it is determined that the maximum average value is equal to or less than the threshold value (NO in 44), the control module 400 maintains the previously activated operation mode and returns to the step 41 of receiving the pressure value again, and repeats the above-described process. Can be done.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the maximum average value exceeds the threshold value (YES in 44), the control module 400 may activate the pressure mode to dynamically determine the shift time according to the size of the maximum average value (45).

In this process, the control module 400 may control the shift period to be shortened as the size of the maximum average value increases during a section operated in the pressure mode. For example, the control module 400 may calculate the average value at 3 second intervals, and extract the average value having the largest value among the average values calculated for 5 minutes as the maximum average value. The control module 400 may compare the extracted maximum average value with a preset threshold value, and activate the pressure mode when the maximum average value exceeds the threshold value. At this time, if it is confirmed that the maximum average value has the first size value, the control module 400 may set the alternate flotation time to 3 minutes. Then, the control module 400 performs the alternate flotation every 3 minutes and then checks the maximum average value that is extracted again after 5 minutes, if it is determined that the extracted maximum average value has a second size greater than the first size, the alternate flotation You can set the time to 2 minutes. As described above, the control module 400 can dynamically perform the alternate flotation optimized for the patient's condition by dynamically setting the alternate flotation time periodically according to the size of the extracted maximum average value.

In addition, the control module 400 controls the operation mode to be switched from the pressure mode (or manual mode) to the timer mode when it is determined that the control signal is not received from the user terminal for a predetermined time while the maximum average value is below a preset threshold. can do.

In some other embodiments, the control module 400 may control alternating flotation in the front-rear direction as well as in the left-right direction. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, an alternating float between the first air cell 110 and the second air cell 120 will be defined as an alternating float in the left and right directions.

5 is a cross-sectional view of the first air cell according to the alternate flotation in the front-rear direction.

As illustrated, the control module 400 may control the output of the pneumatic motor 300 to control the amount of air injected into the air cell, thereby controlling the alternating flotation in the front-rear direction for any one air cell. . For example, the control module 400 in the alternate flotation process of injecting air into the first air cell 110 in the left and right directions, the air injected instantaneously by setting the maximum output of the output of the first pneumatic motor 310 The amount of can be increased rapidly. In this case, as shown in Figure 5 (a), a large amount of air is injected into the inlet side of the first air cell 110 momentarily, so that the partial cell S1 located on the left side is the partial cells S2 located on the right side, S3). Then, as shown in (b) and (c) of FIG. 5, the injected air is moved to the right direction of the first air cell 110 as time passes, and the partial cell S2 located in the middle part The partial cells S3 located at the right portion may be sequentially increased.

On the other hand, when the control module 400 controls the output of the pneumatic motor 300 to be relatively low, the height of all the partial cells is raised at the same speed in the first air cell 110 so that the alternate flotation in the front-rear direction is not performed. Control. As described above, the control module 400 may control the output of the pneumatic motor connected to the rising cell during the alternate flotation to be performed with the alternate flotation of the air cell in the front-rear direction.

Referring back to FIG. 2, in addition to this, the control module 400 may further include a display module 440 and an alarm module 450.

The display module 440 may visually display information about an operating state of the mattress 1 for preventing bedsores according to the present invention.

The alarm module 450 may notify the patient or the people around them when an emergency occurs.

For example, the alarm module 450 may include a speaker, and when the patient presses the emergency button provided on one side of the mattress 1 for preventing bedsores, or when the user selects the UI corresponding to the emergency button through the user terminal The speaker can be controlled to sound a warning sound for a predetermined time.

As another example, when it is confirmed that the mattress 1 for preventing bedsores is operated in a pressure mode, the alarm module 450 determines that the risk of bedsores is high, and may generate a text message to be transmitted to a user terminal possessed by a patient, a caregiver, or a guardian. have. Therefore, in the case of using the mattress 1 for preventing bedsores according to the present invention, even when a caregiver is not at the patient's side, information about a situation in which the patient is determined to have a high risk of pressure sores can be provided.

Although described above with reference to embodiments, those skilled in the art understand that various modifications and changes can be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below. Will be able to.

Claims (5)

A pneumatic mattress consisting of at least two air cells;
At least one pressure sensor that generates a pressure value by measuring the pressure applied to the pneumatic mattress; And
A control module that alternately operates a pneumatic motor connected to each air cell to control the alternate flotation between adjacent air cells, but dynamically changes the alternate flotation time of the air cells according to the pressure value received from the pressure sensor. Includes,
The control module,
Activate either the timer mode or the manual mode,
The average value of the plurality of pressure values received from the pressure sensors arranged at different positions is calculated, and when it is determined that the maximum average value among the plurality of average values calculated at predetermined time intervals exceeds a preset threshold, the size of the maximum average value Depending on the pressure mode to dynamically determine the shift time is activated,
If it is determined that the maximum average value is equal to or less than the preset threshold, the previously activated operation mode is maintained,
During an operation period in the pressure mode, an alternating operation cycle of the pneumatic motor is controlled so that an alternate stimulation cycle is shortened as the maximum average value increases.
delete delete According to claim 1,
Further comprising a communication module for communicating with the user terminal,
The control module, when receiving a control signal from the user terminal through the communication module, the manual mode for controlling the alternate flotation according to the control signal is activated, mattress for preventing bedsores.
The method of claim 4,
The control module,
When the maximum average value is equal to or less than a preset threshold value, and it is determined that the control signal is not received for a predetermined period of time, the timer mode for controlling the alternating levitation at regular time intervals is activated.

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