Powered operating table is easier on patients
A
Variohm Eurosensor product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Mar 5, 2002
Variohm Components has recently supplied Eschmann Equipment with position transducers which have been incorporated into a medical couch designed to reduce patient stress and shock.
Variohm Components has recently supplied Eschmann Equipment with position transducers which have been incorporated into a medical couch designed to reduce patient stress and shock.
In order for medical personnel to be able to work both comfortably and efficiently on a patient they need to be able to reposition the patient from time to time, such repositioning however can result in the patient experiencing some degree of discomfort or trauma.
Obviously the more gently a patient can be repositioned the less likely it is that trauma will be experienced.
One method for reducing the likelihood of trauma is to employ a powered operating table which is able to alter the patient's position with the absolute minimum of discomfort and this is the thinking behind the latest Eschmann range.
These new tables are height adjustable but the also articulate at a number of other points, the movements are controlled via microprocessors in conjunction with feedback sensors supplied by Variohm Components.
Two basic types of sensor are employed depending on whether the movement is linear or rotary.
Linear movement is normally restricted to couch height which is monitored by a cable extension transducer.
These devices employ a flexible cable wound around a spring-loaded drum.
As the cable extends the drum rotates, the exact degree of rotation is proportional to the length of the cable pulled off the drum which of course corresponds to couch height.
Rotary movements are monitored using special hollow-shaft potentiometers which are fixed directly to the point of articulation.
As the couch moves so the output of the potentiometer changes thereby sending position data back to the microprocessor.
Both types of transducer are absolute, this means that they know at all times exactly where they are, even if there has been some form of disturbance to or interruption of the power supply.
Basically this ability can be likened to a form of "mechanical memory" which enables the surgeon or other practitioner to return to a previous position or even repeat a whole sequence of movements.
The application of the type of transducers described isn't limited to operating tables or even to the medical industry alone.
They are so versatile that they are found in applications as diverse as scanners, dental chairs, printing machinery, road sweepers and even Formula 1 racing cars.
They are reliable, relatively inexpensive and extremely simple to use in all sorts of environments ranging from the Antarctic to the Sahara.
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Contact Variohm Eurosensor
Tel +44 1327 351004
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