Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Medical bed with integrated toilet: design considerations and utilization by a bedridden patient

  • Short Communication
  • Published:
Health and Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

There have been many attempts to develop a better toileting aid for bedridden patients to replace conventional incontinence products such as absorbent products, indwelling urinary catheters, and bedpans, although without much success. Automatic urine and faeces disposal systems that detect, transport, and store urine and faeces temporarily for future disposal have been developed and commercialized in South Korea and Japan, but they have not been well-received by patients and carers owing to their inconvenience. For better excretion care, we developed a toilet integrated medical bed that is easy to use for both patients and carers. The toilet basin was incorporated onto the pelvis plate of the bed, and the fluid waste in the toilet basin was collected into a plastic bag through a curved waste storage tube attached to the toilet basin. The toilet-integrated medical electric bed was easy to use for an 84-year-old bedridden male patient. He was able to urinate and defaecate without the help of a carer. Independent urination and defaecation helped restore his dignity considerably. This medical bed with an embedded toilet could be a promising solution for excretion care of bedridden patients.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

References

  1. Wu JM, Matthews CA, Vaughan CP, Markland AD. Urinary, fecal, and dual incontinence in older U.S. adults. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2015;63:947–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.13385.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Gray M, Giuliano KK. Incontinence-associated dermatitis, characteristics and relationship to pressure injury: a multisite epidemiologic analysis. J Wound Ostomy Continence Nurs. 2018;45(1):63–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Magill SS, Edwards JR, Bamberg W, Beldavs ZG, Dumyati G, Kainer MA, et al. Multistate point-prevalence survey of health care-associated infections. N Engl J Med. 2014;370:1198–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Gattinger H, Werner B, Saxer S. Patient experience with bedpans in acute care: a cross-sectional study. J Clin Nurs. 2013;22(15–16):2216–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Jeong G, Park S. Review of urinary continence care products using sensor technology to improve effectiveness. Proc Inst Mech Eng H. 2019;233(1):91–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Fujimoto T, Hashimoto T, Sakaki H, Higashi Y, Tamura T, Tsuji T. Automated handling system for excretion. In: Proc 20th Ann Int Confe IEEE; 1998. https://doi.org/10.1109/IEMBS.1998.746989.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  7. Nagaya K, Kojima T, Hosoya S, Eda K, Ando Y, Ge DL. Self-washing underwear type toilet and its control method using humidity sensor and rotary valve with electric current control. Int J Appl Electrom. 2008;27(1, 2):75–91.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Jeong HW, Choi HW, Jung H, Kim KH, Park S. An automatic urine disposal system for urinary incontinence: a pilot study with long-term users for effectiveness and safety. Technol Health Care. 2016;24(5):753–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Jiang J, Huang Z, Huo B, Zhang Y, Song S. Research Progress and Prospect of nursing robot. Rec Patents Mech Eng. 2018;11(1):41–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Homma K, Yamada Y, Matsumoto O, et al. A proposal of a method to reduce burden of excretion care using robot technology. IEEE Int Conf Rehab Robot. 2009. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICORR.2009.5209524.

  11. Wang Y, Wang S, Jiang Y, Tan R. Control of an excretion care support robot using digital acceleration control algorithm: path tracking problem in an indoor environment. J Syst Design Dynam. 2013;7:472–87. https://doi.org/10.1299/jsdd.7.472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. IEC 60601–2-52:2009+AMD1. Medical electrical equipment - Part 2–52: Particular requirements for the basic safety and essential performance of medical beds, International Electrotechnical Committee, 2015.

  13. KSC IEC 60601–1-2. Medical electrical equipment — Part 1–2: General requirements for basic safety and essential performance — Collateral standard: Electromagnetic disturbances — Requirements and tests, Korea Standards Association, 2012.

  14. KS P 0388. Electrically operated adjustable bed for home care, Korea Standards Association, 2019.

Download references

Funding

This study was supported in part by the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy with the National Standard Technical Skill Improvement Project (No. 10049411).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biotechnology, Eulji University, 553 Sansungdai-ro, Soojung-gu Sungnam, 461-713, South Korea

    Hojun Yeom & Sangsoo Park

  2. Mother’s Hands Inc, Seoul, South Korea

    Chan Ho Park

Authors
  1. Hojun Yeom
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chan Ho Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sangsoo Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sangsoo Park.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Eulji university research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Conflict of interest

Authors H. Yeom and S. Park declare that they have no conflict of interest. Author C. H. Park provided photos for the manuscript and declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from both the patient interviewed and his personal carer.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yeom, H., Park, C.H. & Park, S. Medical bed with integrated toilet: design considerations and utilization by a bedridden patient. Health Technol. 9, 903–907 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12553-019-00340-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12553-019-00340-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation