Anhui Medical University First Affiliated Hospital Licenses Prone Position Face Support Observation Component for RMB 50,000
Recently, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University released a public notice on the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, announcing its intention to license“A Prone Position Support for Easy Observation of Components”The relevant patents are licensed to Sanzhi Jingou (Anhui) Technology Co., Ltd. for use, with a licensing fee ofRMB 50,000. The inventor of this patent isGuo Min。
Image from the official website of the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University
This isA Face Cradle Observation Aid for Prone Position Surgery, its core function isAllows medical staff to clearly monitor the patient's facial status at any time during surgery without changing their position.. Specifically designed for use in prone-position surgeries (where the patient lies face down), it is used in conjunction with a facial support rest to address the difficulty physicians face in directly observing the patient’s face.
Prone Position SurgeryAs a common surgical position in orthopedics, neurosurgery, and spinal surgery, clinical facial observation has long faced multiple pain points, including obstructed fields of view, inconvenient adjustments, lack of monitoring, and high safety risks, which directly impact surgical safety and patients' perioperative comfort. According to feedback from clinical practice, during prolonged prone-position surgeries, conditions such as facial pressure-induced ischemia, airway abnormalities, and expressions of distress are difficult to detect promptly, serving as significant contributors to perioperative pressure injuries and adverse respiratory events.
From a clinical perspective, for patients in the prone position, the head must be secured using a specialized face support. The facial area is obscured by the cavity of the face support, creating a visual blind spot that prevents direct visual observation by medical staff. Furthermore, as surgical personnel frequently change their positions during procedures, traditional observation tools fail to synchronously adapt to the changing viewing angles, often resulting in“Changing the position makes it impossible to see or fully visualize.”...conditions, making it difficult to achieve continuous, real-time monitoring of facial status.
From the perspective of device mechanisms, existing face supports with matching observation components exhibit poor adjustment flexibility and insufficient positioning stability:Most products offer only basic fixation, lacking the ability to achieve multi-angle rotation and fine positional adjustments. Some adjustable structures lack damping mechanisms for stable positioning, making them prone to displacement during surgical vibrations. Furthermore, poor lighting beneath the face support, coupled with the absence of integrated illumination design, further reduces visual clarity, failing to meet clinical requirements for precise assessment of facial perfusion, expression, and respiratory status.
From the Perspective of Patient SafetyProlonged prone positioning can easily lead to localized pressure-induced ischemia of the facial skin; if not promptly identified and adjusted, this significantly increases the incidence of pressure injuries. Furthermore, the inability to obtain real-time information on key parameters such as airway patency and the patient’s level of consciousness may delay the management of abnormalities, thereby increasing safety risks during surgery.Existing equipment fails to address the core needs of “blind-spot observation, flexible adaptation, stable positioning, and auxiliary illumination.”, becoming a key bottleneck in perioperative care and safety management for prone position surgeries.
Furthermore, most currently available clinical observation devices feature generic designs with poor compatibility with face supports. Their cumbersome installation and removal processes, coupled with insecure fixation, not only prolong preoperative preparation time but also risk interfering with surgical procedures due to device displacement. Consequently, these devices fail to align with the high-efficiency, safety-oriented workflows of operating rooms and cannot meet the clinical demand for convenient, integrated observation tools.
Addressing clinical pain points in prone-position surgeries, such as obstructed facial view, inconvenient adjustment, lack of illumination, and unstable fixation,The patented technology for the prone-position face support with an observation-friendly component, developed by Dr. Guo Min’s team at the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, features core advantages of flexible adjustment, stable positioning, illumination assistance, and convenient adaptability., fromFrom Structural Design and Clinical Use to Safety MonitoringAchieve a comprehensive, multi-dimensional upgrade to thoroughly resolve the industry-wide challenge of traditional observation equipment being unable to accommodate real-time monitoring from multiple stations and angles.
This technology inRegulatory Flexibilityachieve key breakthroughs in—Breaking the limitations of traditional observation components with fixed angles and non-adjustable positions, adopting a double-sleeve + sliding groove design, the first sleeve and the second sleeve can move laterally along the first crossbar and the second crossbar, respectively, to precisely adjust the distance between the mirror and the face; in conjunction with a damping adjustment mechanism, the mirror can rotate freely around the first sleeve, allowing medical personnel to quickly lock in the optimal viewing angle based on their surgical position. The mechanism features inherent damping positioning, ensuring that the mirror remains stable and does not shift or shake due to intraoperative vibrations, thereby truly enabling real-time, blind-spot-free observation of the patient's facial status from various positions.
From a practical monitoring perspective, the components feature an innovatively integrated LED lighting system., directly addressing the issues of dim lighting and poor visibility beneath the face support, enabling clear observation of the patient’s facial skin color, perfusion, expression, and respiratory status. This facilitates early detection of risks such as pressure-induced ischemia and airway abnormalities, significantly reducing the incidence of perioperative facial pressure injuries and adverse events. Meanwhile, the multi-clamp adaptive structure allows for rapid and secure attachment to the legs of the face support, offering easy installation and removal without interfering with surgical procedures, thereby seamlessly integrating into the efficient and safe workflow of the operating room.
In terms of structural stability, this technology, throughThe first crossbar and the second crossbar form a stable support frame, and the adjustment mechanism adopts a combination of buckle plates, fixing plates, and positioning pins.Count, enabling flexible control of the mirror's tilt angle while ensuring angle stability after adjustment, thereby avoiding the common drawbacks of traditional components, such as loosening and displacement. The overall structure is simple and compact, highly compatible with existing prone position face supports, and can be used directly without modifying original equipment. With strong adaptability and broad applicability, it is widely suitable for various prone-position surgeries in orthopedics, neurosurgery, and spinal surgery.
Furthermore, this technology features a low threshold for clinical implementation and high translational value. It requires no complex electronic controls or disposable consumables; its purely mechanical structure is reliable, durable, and incurs low maintenance costs. It not only meets the routine demands of hospital operating rooms but is also suitable for widespread adoption in primary healthcare institutions. Through its innovative design characterized by low cost and high practicality, it comprehensively enhances the efficiency of facial monitoring during prone-position surgeries and improves patient safety standards.
In response to clinical needs in prone-position surgery, such as real-time facial observation, pressure management, and intraoperative monitoring, medical institutions and device manufacturers both domestically and internationally have established multiple R&D and commercialization pipelines focusing on face support, mirror-based visualization, angle adjustment, and illumination assistance. These efforts are driving the upgrade of prone-position surgical assistive devices toward greater adjustability, visibility, and safety.
Mizuho OSI ProneView® Prone Positioning Protective Helmet System, providing head support and ocular monitoring solutions for prolonged prone-position surgeries such as those in spinal surgery. The product optimizes facial pressure distribution through its contoured structure, and the included mirror base enables continuous intraoperative ocular observation. It is compatible with multiple surgical table systems, including the Wilson Frame and Pro Axis, and complies with AORN and ASA clinical guidelines. It has been routinely adopted by numerous tertiary hospitals overseas, and relevant clinical studies have confirmed that it reduces facial surface pressure by approximately 29%, making it a mainstream imported high-end prone positioning face rest currently available.
A Visualized Prone Position Head and Face Soft Pillow Support Frame at Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology.Featuring a bottom-mirror design integrated with temperature and humidity sensors, the device allows for facial observation and local microenvironment monitoring while providing support, thereby offering data references for early pressure injury warning. The patent has been granted, and the prototype is undergoing limited-scale trial use in the hospital’s operating rooms.
A Prone Position Facial Observation Device of Deyang People's Hospital.To address issues of insufficient lighting and limited reflection angles, a convex mirror and a ring light source are installed beneath the headrest cavity to enhance observational clarity. The patent has been granted. The focusing structure has been simplified, and the device is currently in the preclinical optimization and small-scale trial phase.
Current Overview of Prone Position Monitoring TechnologiesOverseas markets prioritize high-end, heavy-duty pressure protection; the domestic market emphasizes widespread adoption with foundational support; hospital patents focus on functional innovation.landscape. Currently marketed products are predominantly characterized by fixed structures and basic observational capabilities; mature solutions featuring multi-angle flexible adjustment, integrated illumination, and rapid compatibility with universal face supports remain scarce. Furthermore, most hospital-related patents have stalled at the stage between patent grant and clinical validation, resulting in limited large-scale commercialization and low nationwide adoption across China.
Leveraging the combined advantages of adjustable damping positioning, universal clamping and mounting, and an integrated illumination-and-observation design, this patented technology demonstrates significant competitiveness in clinical practicality and translation speed, and is poised to fill the market gap for mid-range, cost-effective adjustable observation components.