GB2436198A

GB2436198A - Tilting examination chair

Info

Publication number: GB2436198A
Application number: GB0605209A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Steven Bowbrick
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-03-15
Filing date: 2006-03-15
Publication date: 2007-09-19
Also published as: GB0605209D0

Abstract

A sectional examination chair suitable for echocardiography is able to tilt about a longitudinal axis of the chair and has head and body supports located at sides of the chair to support the weight of a patient. The chair comprises: a seat portion 2; a back portion 1 hinged to the seat portion; a drive 13 for driving the back portion from a seat configuration to a bed configuration; a drive 15 for tilting the seat about a longitudinal axis 18 of the chair when in a bed configuration; and head and body supports 5,7 for supporting a patient 20 when the chair is tilted. An optional leg portion 3 may be provided. A cut-out section [6, Figure 1] may be provided to allow a sonographer to access to the patient's chest.

Description

Examination Chair The invention relates to an examination chair, and in

particular to an examination chair that is suitable for use with echocardiography.

Echocardiography is a technique for the examination of the heart using ultrasound. A transducer is placed on the chest wall (or thorax) and images taken. The technique is a non-invasive and popular test.

Conventionally, examination couches used for echocardiography are based on the design of a bed. For echocardiography the patient needs to lie on the bed on his or her left or right side, in a left or right lateral decubitus position. However, this leads to some difficulties.

Firstly, elderly or less mobile patients can find it difficult to climb up onto the couch and lie down.

Secondly, many patients find it very difficult or impossible to establish the correct position for optimal scanning.

Thirdly, getting the patient into the correct position can be a difficult and time consuming procedure. Often, the patient needs to be physically moved into position by the sonographer.

Fourthly, many patients find the required position uncomfortable particularly since they may be required to remain still in this position for 20 to 40 minutes.

Fifthly, with the patient on their left side, there is little room to adjust the transducer position for the crucial apical image planes. If the patient position changes as the transducer is adjusted, this can lead to loss of ideal position and image orientation.

Sixthly, conventional couches do not present the patient in a comfortable and convenient position for the sonographer.

Specialist supports are used in a number of areas, in particular for dentistry. For example, a chair for dentistry is described in US Re 30,648 (Ohlrogge et a]). The chair has a back portion that can swing back and a seat portion that also moves.

In the case of x-rays, US6,322,250 describes the difficulty in positioning patients for X-rays, especially the elderly and infirm. A chair with a number of different motions is described.

However, none of these designs is particularly suitable for echocardiography, and so there is thus a need for an improved design for this application.

According to the invention there is provided a chair according to claim 1.

The chair according to the invention is useable for any patient capable of sitting upright, and does not require the patient to climb or to lie down. Further, the patient does not have to acquire the position for optimal scanning themselves; this is done by the seat drive. The prior art seats discussed above do not get patients into a suitable position for echocardiography. Instead, they merely allow motion between seated and lying positions, with minor further adjustments to the seating position.

The chair according to the invention is more comfortable than an existing flat bed for both the sonographer and the patient.

The chair may include a leg portion hinged to the seat portion about a lateral hinge to the back portion, at the foot end of the seat portion opposed to the head end and a leg drive arranged to move the leg portion about the lateral hinge between a seat position extending at an angle of no more than 30 to the vertical and a bed position in which (he leg portion extends at an angle of no more than 30 to the horizontal.

The leg portion can be lowered to the seat position to allow the patient to sit on the chair in a normal seated position. Then, the leg portion and head portion can both be lowered to the bed position using the head drive and leg drive, before positioning the patient for measurement using the seat drive.

The head portion may include a handle portion.

The chair may further include a cut out in the first lateral side of the back portion between the head support portion and the seat, the cut-out extending inwardly beyond the line of the urner faces of the head support portion and body support portion defining the support surface.

The cut-out makes it easier to position the sensor for apical image planes.

In another aspect, the invention relates to echocardiography apparatus according to claim 10.

In the present specification where a surface is said to be "substantially horizontal" and "substantially vertical" are not intended to require that the surface is exactly horizontal or vertical; instead, the surfaces may be at an angle up to 400 from the horizontal or vertical respectively, preferably up to 30 .

For a better understanding of the invention, embodiments will now be described, purely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a chair according to an embodiment of the invention in top view; Figure 2 shows a chair according to Figure 1 in side view in a first, seat position Figure 3 shows a chair according to Figure 1 in side view in a second, bed position; Figure 4 shows a chair according to Figure 1 in a further position; Figure 5 shows a chair according to Figure 1 in end view in the bed position; Figure 6 shows a chair according to Figure 1 in end view in the measurement position; and Figure 7 shows a chair according to Figure 1 in use in end view.

The drawings are purely schematic and not to scale.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3, a chair includes a back portion 1, a seat portion 2 and a leg portion 3. The back portion I is hinged to the seat portion 2 at first hinge 10 which extends laterally at one end of the seat portion 2. The leg portion 3 is hinged to the seat portion 2 at second hinge Ii which is at the other end of the seat portion 2 to the first hinge.

The chair is supported on base 8 which includes three motors 13,14 15 and control electronics 16. These are all shown schematically in Figure 2. As will be appreciated, the control electronics 16 may in alternative embodiments be provided elsewhere. The control electronics 16 controls the motors 13,14, 15.

The first motor 13 controls the position of the back portion 1 and is arranged to drive the back portion to rotate it around first hinge 10 between a seat position, shown in Figure 2, in which the back portion is substantially vertical, and a bed position, shown in Figure 3, in which the back portion is substantially horizontal.

The second motor 14 controls the position of the foot portion 3 and is arranged to drive the foot portion 3 to rotate it around second hinge 11 between a seat position shown in Figure 2 and a bed position shown in Figure 3 in which the foot portion is substantially horizontal.

As illustrated in Figure 4, the foot portion 3 may be rotated further to a vertical position in which it is substantially vertical; this can make it easier for the less able-bodied to sit on the seat.

The hinges 10,11 extend laterally.

Figures 5 and 6 show the chair in an end view. The chair can rotate about a ]ongitudinal axis from a bed position shown in Figure 5 and a measurement position shown in Figure 6, driven by drive bar 17 which in turn is driven by third motor 15.

In this description, the term left side" will be used for the side that supports the left side of a user, which is on the right in the drawings.

The left side of the includes a handle 4 at the head end. The left side also include headrest 5 and body rest 7 extending the length of the seat and leg portions.

When the chair is tipped into the measurement position shown in Figure 6, the headrest and body rest 7 cooperate to define a support surface 19 for supporting a patient on the chair.

Note that the longitudinal axis 18 is not entirely flat and is at an angle of between 5 and 25 to the vertical. This allows the bed position to likewise be not entirely flat, with the head end higher than the foot end, and still rotate a patient on the chair to the correct position. In the preferred embodiment however the bed is able to be laid flat if required, if for example a medical condition permits it.

Note that in the embodiment the seat rotates by approximately 75 between the bed position in which the seat is level viewed laterally, to the measurement position.

A cut-out 6 is also provided on the left side between headrest 5 and body rest 7 on the left side of the lower part of the back portion. This can be used for allowing the introduction of a transducer into the apical position on the left side of the chest.

The chair is covered in foam cushioning and faced with wipe-clean vinyl.

In use, the chair is brought into the seat position. If necessary, the leg portion is lowered to the vertical position (Figure 4). A patient is seated on the chair, and then the chair is lowered into the bed position by driving first and second motors 13,14 under the control of control electronics 16. Then, the third motor 15 is controlled to rotate the chair about a longitudinal axis 18 into the measurement position, shown in Figure 7, in which the patient is supported by the support surface 19 of headrest 5 and the body rest 7. In this position, in the embodiment, the support surface 1 9 is at an angle of 15 to the horizontal.

The patient then holds on to handle 4 with his or her left arm; this removes the arm from the cut-out 6.

The sonographer cai-i then take an echocardiograph using the easy access through cut-out 6, using sonography equipment 30. The chair supports the patient in the correct left lateral decubitus position.

Of course, the chair also makes it possible to obtain other image planes during echocardiography, including left and right parasternal planes, subcostal image planes, and suprasternal image planes. The left parastemal plane requires the left lateral decubitus position, and the nght parasternal plane requires the right lateral decubitus position. The subcostal image planes and suprasternal image planes require the patient to be laid almost flat on the chair, for example with a back support angle of 30 . The invention can cope with all of these.

The chair makes it easy to get patients in the correct left or right lateral decubitus position, even if the patients are not highly mobile.

Note that the chair according to the embodiment has a headrest 5 and body rest 7 on the right hand side as well as the left and side. This makes it possible to rotate the chair the other way to a second measurement position to get a patient into the right lateral decubitus position. This right hand side headrest 5 and body rest 7 are not essential and may be omitted if required. Indeed, this may even be advantageous in making the chair more accessible for larger patients who might have difficulty fitting between left and right side body rests.

In embodiments, the right side headrest and body rest 7 are removable.

The exact orientations and angles used in the embodiment are not essential and alternatives may be used. The seat need not be wholly honzontal in the seat and bed positions, and the angles of the leg and back portions and the available rotations of these may be varied as required.

The seat portion may be at an angle of more than 40 to the horizontal, preferably between 60 and 900.

The leg portion is preferably at an angle of less than 30 to the horizontal in the bed S position and more than 60 to the horizontal in the seat position. Likewise, the head portion is preferably at an angle of less than 30 to the horizontal in the bed position and more than 60 to the horizontal in the seat position.

The support surface 19 is preferably at an angle of between 50 and 25 to the horizontal in the measurement position.

Claims

CLAIMS

1. A chair for echocardiology, comprising: a seat portion mounted on a support; a back portion hinged to the seat portion about a lateral hinge at a head end of the seat portion; a head support portion on a first lateral side of the back portion; a body support portion on the first lateral side of the seat portion; a back drive for raising the back portion to a seat position and lowering the back portion to a bed position; and a seat drive for rotating the seat portion and back portion together about a longitudinal axis from the bed position with the seat portion in a substantially horizontal position to a measurement position in which the seat portion is at an angle of no more than 40 to the vertical and the head support portion and the body support portion are below the seat portion extending outwardly of the seat portion, the inner faces of the head support portion and body support portion cooperating to support a patient on the patient's side.

2. A chair according to claim 1, further comprising a leg portion hinged to the seat portion about a lateral hinge to the back portion, at the foot end of the seat portion opposed to the head end and a leg drive arranged to move the leg portion about the lateral hinge between a seat position extending at an angle of no more than 30 to the vertical and a bed position in which the leg portion extends at an angle of no more than 30 to the horizontal.

3. A chair according to claim 1 or 2 further comprising a handle portion extending on the left side of the head support position.

4. A chair according to any preceding claim further comprising a cut out in the first lateral side of the back portion between the head support portion and the seat, the cut-out extending inwardly beyond the line of the inner faces of the head support portion and body support portion.

5. A chair according to any preceding claim wherein the first lateral side of the back and seat portions is the left side viewed from the head end.

6. A chair according to claim 5 further comprising a further back portion and a further seat portion on the right side viewed from the head end.

7. A chair according to any preceding claim wherein the drive is arranged to rotate the scat portion to an angle between 65 and 85 to the vertical in the measurement position.

8. A chair according to any preceding claim wherein the support surface is angled upwardly from the seat portion and head portion at an angle between 5 and 25 to the horizontal in the measurement position.

9. A chair according to any preceding claim in which the longitudinal axis is inclined at an angle of 5 to 25 to the horizontal, being lower at the foot end than the head end.

10. Echocardiography apparatus, comprising: a chair according to any preceding claim; and echocardiography equipment for taking an echocardiogram of a patient on the chair.