Patent ID: 7921488

Claim:
A thermoregulating apparatus for exchanging thermal energy with and supporting a patient, the apparatus comprising: a plurality of gas-filled support cells, each of the support cells having a lower portion and an upward facing surface, the upward facing surfaces of the support cells being resiliently compressible towards the lower portions, the lower portions of the plurality of support cells together defining a lower boundary of the plurality of support cells; a flexible patient support layer spanning the plurality of support cells, the patient support layer disposed above and proximate the upward facing surfaces of the plurality of support cells, the patient being supportable on the patient support layer wherein each of the support cells is resiliently compressible in response to the patient being supported on the patient support layer; and a heat exchange fluid circuit disposed between the patient support layer and the lower boundary proximate the plurality of support cells; the fluid circuit exchanging thermal energy with the patient through the patient support layer; wherein the heat exchange fluid circuit includes a plurality of bladders, each of the bladders being disposed between a respective one of the upward facing surfaces of the plurality of support cells and the patient support layer, the plurality of bladders being independently vertically displaceable as the plurality of support cells are resiliently compressed in response to the patient being supported on the patient support layer.