Erel Veysel, Palomino Allison, Jamieson Alexandra, Singh Inderjeet, Kumar Saurav, Tzen Yi-Ting, Wijesundara Muthu B J
Biomedical Technologies Division, The University of Texas at Arlington Research Institute, Fort Worth, TX, USA.
Department of Applied Clinical Research, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
J Rehabil Assist Technol Eng. 2025 Jun 5;12:20556683251349108. doi: 10.1177/20556683251349108. eCollection 2025 Jan-Dec.
Prolonged immobilization during long-range aeromedical evacuation (LAE) is vital for stabilizing patients with spinal fractures, spinal cord injuries, and traumatic brain injuries. However, pressure injuries are a significant risk during long periods of immobilization, as continuous high pressure on soft tissues can lead to ulceration. This paper introduces a novel adaptive spine board (ASB) overlay, an air-cell-based support surface, designed to optimize interface pressure redistribution during LAE. The ASB overlay was developed, tested, and compared with currently available MedEvac Litter and warrior evacuation litter pad (WELP) in terms of immersion and interface pressure. Furthermore, a pressure-maintaining algorithm was tested to ensure that the pressure within the air cells remains constant, regardless of environmental effects due to climate and elevation changes. The American National Standard for Support Surfaces immersion test showed the ASB overlay achieved 10 mm more immersion than the WELP. The interface pressures for all regions of the ASB overlay were lower than those seen in the litter and the WELP, with values remaining below 40 mmHg. These results demonstrated that the ASB overlay can reduce more interface pressure compared to commercial support surfaces while maintaining set air cell pressure under varying pressure and temperature conditions.
在远程航空医疗后送（LAE）期间进行长时间固定对于稳定脊柱骨折、脊髓损伤和创伤性脑损伤患者至关重要。然而，在长时间固定期间，压疮是一个重大风险，因为软组织持续受到高压会导致溃疡。本文介绍了一种新型自适应脊柱板（ASB）覆盖物，这是一种基于气室的支撑表面，旨在优化LAE期间的界面压力再分布。开发并测试了ASB覆盖物，并在浸入度和界面压力方面将其与目前可用的医疗后送担架和战士后送担架垫（WELP）进行了比较。此外，还测试了一种压力维持算法，以确保气室内的压力保持恒定，而不受气候和海拔变化等环境影响。美国国家标准支撑表面浸入度测试表明，ASB覆盖物的浸入度比WELP多10毫米。ASB覆盖物所有区域的界面压力均低于担架和WELP，数值保持在40mmHg以下。这些结果表明，与商业支撑表面相比，ASB覆盖物可以在不同压力和温度条件下保持设定的气室压力的同时，降低更多的界面压力。
