STRETCHERS, GURNEYS, AND SURGICAL TABLES

Considerable advantages will be gained in both finished weight and carrying capacity due to the migration from powder-coated aluminum stretchers to composite construction, and novel advantages will be gained due to the x-ray transparency provided by composite construction. This property will not only permit the development of in-transport imaging, but will pave the way for the development of “smart stretchers.”

In addition to x-ray penetration, composites may eventually be engineered to permit radio frequency throughput; a feature not possessed by current metal devices. Composite construction would allow the embedding of sensors within the body of the stretcher to enable continuous monitoring of patient vital signs during transportation, without the requirement for the attachment of ambulance mounted monitory devices directly to the patient. Clinical data that could be registered by simple modification of current equipment would include heart and respiration rate, blood pressure and body temperature. Pulse oximetry and spirometry could also be readily determined. The first generation smart stretchers would utilize wired sensors that retract into recesses built into the rails of the stretcher, but research & development would aim to develop wireless monitoring devices that ‘sense’ the vital signs using Doppler technology, infrared sensors, and other scanning techniques. Data would be collected and analyzed by an on-board, stretcher-mounted central processing unit, and the results relayed wirelessly for display on a handheld monitor screen and forwarded to the receiving medical care facility. Data outside of normal parameters would be highlighted and accompanied by an audible warning.