Patent ID: 8397393

Claim:
A medical device, said medical device, comprising: an enclosure housing a rolling element gravity actuated tilt switch contained within said enclosure, wherein said rolling element is generally spherical and has a generally solid exterior, an indicating device associated with said enclosure, and a circuit coupled to said indicating device for powering said indicating device, said enclosure further comprising an attachment device coupled to said enclosure for attaching said enclosure to a region of a bed; said rolling element gravity actuated tilt switch for responding to a local gravity field to make or break a circuit associated with an angular difference between said region of said bed and a local horizontal; said circuit further comprising a stand-by power supply and a time delay device, said rolling element gravity actuated tilt switch closing said circuit and activating said time delay device upon reaching a threshold angle, wherein said threshold angle is determined to reduce medical complications associated with bedridden patients; said indicating device powered by said circuit once said circuit is completed by said rolling element gravity actuated tilt switch, said indicating device further indicating via one or more alerts that said threshold angle has been reached, wherein said time delay device is capable of delaying at least one of said alerts.