Patent ID: 7587776

Claim:
A therapeutic mattress system for treating a patient, the mattress system comprising: a mattress having a plurality of vertically elongated cells extending a height of at least 2.5″ from a base layer, the vertically elongated cells being arranged in a row and column array, each cell having a sidewall, a patient support surface extending therefrom and a cavity defined interior of the sidewall the patient support surface and the base layer, the elongated cells being grouped into a first group of cells and a second group of cells, the cavities of the cells of the first group being fluidly interconnected to define a first group chamber, and the cavities of the cells of the second group being fluidly interconnected to define a second group chamber, the first group chamber not being fluidly interconnected with the second group chamber, the first group of cells having an inlet port and an exit port to allow air to be injected into the first group of cells at the inlet port and to allow at least a portion of the air in the first group of cells to be exhausted at the exit port, the second group of cells having an inlet port and an exit port to allow air to be injected into the second group of cells at the inlet port and to allow at least a portion of the air in the second group of cells to be exhausted at the exit port.