Patent ID: 8549684

Claim:
A yieldable patient support cushion that includes a flexible, resilient, gel cushioning media having shape memory and being substantially solid and non-flowable at temperatures below 130 degrees Fahrenheit, the cushion for supporting a portion of a patient's body when in a seated or lying position thereon and comprising: a quantity of gel cushioning medium forming a base and an outer periphery of said cushion, said cushioning medium being compressible so that it will deform under the compressive force of a portion of a patient's body positioned on top of the cushioning medium, said gel cushioning medium forming a plurality of interior gelastic elements projecting from said base, interior of said outer periphery, and a plurality of peripheral gelastic elements projecting from said base adjacent or at said outer periphery; each of said interior gelastic elements comprising: a first hub section extending from said base and having a hub cross-section generally parallel to said base, and a first spoke, a second spoke, and a third spoke, each respective spoke of said spokes extending from said base and having a spoke cross-section generally parallel to said base and being different than said hub cross-section, and each spoke having a proximal end extending from said first hub section, a distal end, and a spoke area between said distal end and said proximal end; each of said peripheral gelastic elements comprising: a second hub section, and at least one spoke having a distal end, a proximal end extending from said second hub section, and a spoke area between said distal end and said proximal end of said at least one spoke; and wherein each of said distal ends of each respective spoke of a respective gelastic element and each of said spoke areas of the respective spoke of the respective gelastic element are disconnected from the other gelastic elements and from the other spokes of the respective gelastic element; and wherein at least one of the first hub section, the first spoke, and the second spoke is configured to buckle when the at least one of the first hub section, the first spoke, and the second spoke is subject to a predetermined pressure by the patient's body when the patient's body overlays the at least one of the first hub, the first spoke, the second spoke, and the third spoke.