Anhui Provincial Hospital to Transfer Patented Seated Pressure Injury Prevention Device for Cardiology Patients at RMB 6.75 Million
Recently, the First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (Anhui Provincial Hospital) released a public notice on the conversion of scientific and technological achievements, proposing to transfer its“Sitting Position Pressure Injury Prevention Nursing Device for Cardiology Patients”two patents were transferred to Guangde Zhigan Medical Device Co., Ltd. through agreed pricing, with a transaction amount ofRMB 6.75 million, which includesRMB 420,000 in patent licensing fees and RMB 6.33 million in technical cooperative development fees. The inventor of this patent isCao Education and Its Team。
This device provides integrated care that combines stable sitting posture maintenance, pressure ulcer prevention, facilitated toileting, and rest support. It is suitable for various settings, including hospital wards and rehabilitation facilities. The device not only effectively reduces the risk of pressure injuries in patients with heart failure and improves their quality of life but also alleviates the clinical nursing burden, offering a practical solution for the care of heart failure patients. The inventors of this device are Cao Jiaoyu and his team.
In the clinical diagnosis and treatment of patients with heart failure,“Maintaining a Sitting or Semi-Sitting Position”It is a core medical order in the treatment protocol. In patients with heart failure, impaired cardiac pumping function means that excessive venous return further increases cardiac workload, exacerbating heart failure symptoms. Sitting or semi-sitting positions leverage gravity to reduce venous return and alleviate cardiac pressure, providing critical support for stabilizing the patient’s condition. Meanwhile, prolonged maintenance of the same sitting position leads to sustained compression of local tissues and impaired blood circulation. Particularly in the buttocks, as the primary weight-bearing area, the skin and subcutaneous tissues are prone to ischemic and hypoxic injury, resulting in pressure ulcers. This pathophysiological mechanism creates an inherent contradiction between positional therapy and pressure ulcer prevention in patients with heart failure.
In clinical diagnosis and treatment scenarios, two core pain points have long plagued both doctors and patients. On the one hand,Difficulty in maintaining body position,During the day, the patient can maintain a sitting position independently; however, at night, particularly in the late hours, they are highly prone to losing postural control due to somnolence and mental confusion, slipping from a sitting or semi-sitting position into a supine position. This leads to a sudden increase in venous return, exacerbating cardiac load and directly triggering worsening heart failure, thereby posing significant risks to disease management; on the other hand,Significant pressure in the prevention and control of pressure injuries,Prolonged sitting results in sustained pressure on the buttocks, leading to impaired local blood circulation and a significantly increased incidence of pressure ulcers. This not only causes severe pain and reduces patients’ quality of life but also prolongs hospital stays and substantially increases the nursing workload, requiring greater effort in position adjustment, pressure ulcer care, and monitoring. Furthermore, patients with heart failure are physically weak; transferring from bed to a toilet for defecation or urination poses high risks and operational difficulties. Additionally, prolonged sitting without adequate rest support exacerbates physical fatigue and negatively impacts the treatment experience.
Existing nursing care plans have significant deficiencies, making it difficult to form"Positional Stability - Pressure Ulcer Prevention - Daily Care"complete solution. Traditional care largely relies on manual assistance for repositioning, which is not only inefficient but also makes it impossible for healthcare professionals to provide continuous 24-hour monitoring, thereby failing to prevent loss of positional control in patients during nighttime. Ordinary support cushions can only slightly disperse pressure and lack active designs to promote circulation, resulting in limited effectiveness in pressure ulcer prevention.
Although some related devices have attempted to address single issues, they suffer from functional limitations. Specifically, early models focused solely on positional fixation or pressure ulcer prevention, neglecting patients’ excretion needs. This omission necessitated getting up and transferring for toileting, thereby increasing the risk of acute heart failure exacerbation. Other devices lack adjustable mechanisms to accommodate patients of different body types, making it difficult to balance fixation efficacy with comfort. Furthermore, the absence of dedicated rest-support structures fails to alleviate fatigue associated with prolonged sitting, thus failing to comprehensively meet the core needs of clinical diagnosis and treatment as well as patients’ daily living.
This sitting-position pressure ulcer prevention nursing device centers on clinical needs, achieving multiple innovations through structural optimization and functional expansion to precisely address traditional nursing challenges. Its basic version focuses on“Positional Stability + Pressure Ulcer Prevention”Core Demand, InnovationAdopts a "head-torso-lower limbs" triple fixation structure, the head is secured via an adjustable moving plate paired with an air-cushion limiting mechanism, achieving soft-contact fixation to prevent head displacement; the torso is held firmly against the backboard using straps with buckle fasteners, while the lower limbs are supported by motor-driven adjustable plates that accommodate various positioning angles. This triple-layered protection ensures that patients can maintain a stable sitting posture even during nighttime. In terms of pressure ulcer prevention, the design innovatively integrates soft support cushions with micro-vibration pads: the soft materials distribute pressure across the hips, while the evenly distributed vibration pads actively promote local blood circulation. This system is further complemented by an upper limb support mechanism capable of timed lifting, forming“Decompression–Circulation Promotion–Pressure Differentiation”triple-layer protection system. The improved version features further innovative upgrades, incorporating a new design that combines a mobile mechanism with a toilet unit. A drive motor enables lateral movement of the support cushion, facilitating rapid switching between “pressure ulcer prevention mode” and “elimination mode” without requiring the patient to sit up or transfer. Additionally, an innovatively designed snap-on table board is added to provide comfortable resting support for patients, addressing the lack of rest-assistance functionality in traditional devices.
The core advantages of this device are reflected inClinical Utility, Safety, and Comfortcomprehensive balance. From a clinical application perspective, positional fixation no longer relies on manual monitoring; the integration of mechanical structures with intelligent control ensures more stable and sustained sitting posture, effectively reducing the risk of heart failure exacerbation. The pressure ulcer prevention strategy has been upgraded from passive protection to active intervention, where vibratory massage works synergistically with lifting and pressure redistribution to significantly enhance pressure ulcer prevention and reduce the nursing burden on healthcare staff. In terms of patient experience, soft support cushions, adjustable limb support boards, and air cushion limiting mechanisms balance fixation efficacy with comfort, avoiding the discomfort associated with rigid restraints. The improved excretion function allows heart failure patients to defecate conveniently without getting up, thereby lowering the risk of condition deterioration during transfers; furthermore, the transparent, detachable commode assists healthcare staff in observing stool characteristics, providing valuable references for diagnosis and treatment. Regarding installation and usage, the device is rapidly secured to hospital beds via fixing plates and top bolts, accommodating beds of various specifications. It offers stable installation and simple operation, requiring no complex debugging before use, making it suitable for diverse scenarios such as clinical wards and home care.
Heart failure, as a critical stage in the end-phase of cardiovascular disease, requires patients to rely long-term on specific body positions to alleviate symptoms and reduce the risk of complications, creating an urgent clinical need for specialized nursing equipment. Consequently, a variety of products have emerged in the market to support the rehabilitation of heart failure patients.
Chengdu Mei Ai Kang Medical Technology Co., Ltd. Smart Heart Failure Bed:It is an integrated system featuring an operation command display transmitter, controller, back and leg lifting mechanism, body position monitoring device, and pulse rate and blood oxygen saturation monitoring device. It supports intelligent body position setting and monitoring, as well as sleep data monitoring. In the event of an acute heart failure episode, it can automatically adjust the patient's body position based on the severity of hypoxia and trigger an alarm. The recorded data is accessible for review, thereby aiding clinical diagnosis.
Guanghan People's Hospital Heart Failure Nursing Clinic Uses a Nursing Device for Heart Failure Patients:Comprising a frame, bed board (fixed panel plus H-shaped movable panel), electric telescopic rods, straps, and movable armrests, the device utilizes electric telescopic rods to rotate the movable panel for patient lateral positioning, facilitating caregiver hygiene care; the straps and armrests ensure patient safety, offering a more labor-efficient alternative to manual repositioning.
Hefei Second People's Hospital Medical Heart Failure Sitting Board:Composed of a hand support plate, clamping arms, extension arms, foot support plates, and a balance board, this device is secured to the hospital bed rail via clamping arms. It features adjustable telescopic extension and uses Velcro straps to secure the patient’s lower legs, supporting an upright sitting position with both lower limbs hanging naturally. This design helps reduce physical exertion and the risk of falls, and its foldable structure facilitates easy storage.
Wuhu No. 2 People's Hospital Heart Failure Patient Nursing Bed:Equipped with a bed frame, main bed board, adjustable rear bed board, rotary motor, and tabletop panel. The rotary motor drives the adjustment of the rear bed board's angle to assist patients in maintaining a sitting position. The tabletop panel can be assembled into a stable surface for dining or placing items. Paired with a backrest cushion for enhanced comfort, it offers simple operation and versatile functionality.
Centered on precise postural adjustment, these devices integrate multiple advantages, including intelligent monitoring, safety protection, and convenient nursing care. They not only meet patients’ needs for pathological positions such as sitting and semi-recumbent positions but also effectively prevent risks such as pressure ulcers, falls, and hypoxia, while significantly reducing the operational burden on healthcare professionals. The emergence of these innovative devices, anchored by human-centered design and intelligent upgrades, provides more efficient and safe support for the clinical nursing and rehabilitation of heart failure patients, thereby promoting the advancement of cardiology nursing toward greater precision and convenience.