Patent ID: 7287289

Claim:
A surgical table, comprising: an articulated frame including a head, middle, and foot section; a first frame cushion secured in overlying relation to said head section; a second frame cushion secured in overlying relation to said middle section; a third frame cushion secured in overlying relation to said foot section; a first inflated pad releasably secured in overlying relation to said first frame cushion; a second inflated pad releasably secured in overlying relation to said second frame cushion; a third inflated pad releasably secured in overlying relation to said third frame cushion; a manifold system connecting said first inflated pad to said second inflated pad and said second inflated pad to said third inflated pad; a controller unit that transmits and redistributes pressure that exceeds capillary occlusion pressure applied to any location on any of said first, second, and third inflated pads throughout said first, second and third inflated pads so that said pressure is distributed throughout parts of a patient's body in contact with said first, second and third inflated pads whereby soft tissue of the patient is neither compressed nor distorted; a pressure transducer for frequently sampling an actual internal air pressure in each inflated pad, said pressure transducer sending a signal to a comparator means that compares the pressure transducer signal to a preset preprogrammed pressure profile for a particular patient; said comparator means adapted to open vents formed in an inflated pad if the detected actual internal air pressure exceeds the pressure profile for that patient; said comparator means adapted to turn on a pump to add pressure to an inflated pad if the detected actual internal air pressure is below the pressure profile for the patient; said first, second third inflated pads providing three dimensional volumetric pressure redistribution, thereby conforming to anatomical characteristics of the patient disposed in overlying relation to said first, second, and third frame cushions and suspending the patient in non-contacting relation to said first, second, and third frame cushions.