Adjustable hair transplantation chair
A convertible chair, for example, a hair transplantation chair that permits movement of the patient during a procedure while the patient's head remains substantially stationary. The chair may include a head support and a plurality of body supports that may be mounted on a base, or on a cradle movably attached to the base. The chair can be configured for a follicular unit harvesting procedure and it could be also converted into a hair implantation configuration for hair implantation procedure. The patient remains in the chair during the procedure with his head substantially stationary, while various parts of his body may be repositioned, for example, by rotation of the cradle. The chair may be automated, or assisted with pneumatics, motors, foot pumps and the like. The chair is particularly useful for assisting robotic hair transplantation procedures.
1. An adjustable chair, comprising:
a base;
a cradle mounted on the base and configured for rotation along an arcuate path having a center of cradle rotation located above the cradle;
a seat mounted on the cradle for supporting a person to be seated thereon; and
the adjustable chair having a face down configuration in which the adjustable chair comprises a head support and a torso support, the head support
1) configured to accommodate a head of the person face down while a torso of the person rests on the torso support and
2) positionable on the adjustable chair such that a center of the head of the person, when positioned on the head support while the person is seated on the seat, is within 0-3 inches radius from the center of cradle rotation;
wherein a position of the cradle on the base is adjustable along the arcuate path such that the head support remains substantially at the same spatial location as it was before the cradle adjustment along the arcuate path.
2. The adjustable chair of claim 1 , wherein the head support is mounted to the cradle.
3. The adjustable chair of claim 1 , wherein the head support is mounted to the base.
4. The adjustable chair of claim 3 , wherein the base comprises a column near one end of the base and the head support is mounted on the column, and wherein the cradle is mounted away from the one end of the base.
5. The adjustable chair of claim 1 , wherein the center of cradle rotation is positioned at an elevation of approximately 44 to 48 inches.
6. The adjustable chair of claim 1 , further including a lock mechanism for locking the cradle relative to the base.
7. The adjustable chair of claim 1 , further comprising one or more adjustable body supports mounted on the cradle such that when the cradle rotates along the arcuate path about the center of cradle rotation, the one or more body supports rotate with the cradle.
8. The adjustable chair of claim 1 , further including a movement mechanism for displacing the cradle relative to the base.
9. The adjustable chair of claim 8 , wherein the movement mechanism includes a crank.
10. The adjustable chair of claim 8 , wherein the movement mechanism comprises an indexing system configured to allow adjustment of the cradle position based on previous experience.
11. The adjustable chair of claim 8 , wherein the movement mechanism comprises a hydraulic system.
12. The adjustable chair of claim 1 , wherein the head support is configured to translate forward and backwards.
13. The adjustable chair of claim 1 , further including one or more body supports mounted on the cradle whose positions are adjustable relative thereto, and wherein at least one of the body supports comprise an adjustment mechanism with an indexing system that allows for pre-set adjustments.
14. The adjustable chair of claim 1 , wherein the adjustable chair is configured to be convertible between the face down configuration and a face up configuration.
15. The adjustable chair of claim 1 , wherein the adjustable chair has a face up configuration and the torso support is configured to convert to a back support in the face up configuration.
16. The adjustable chair of claim 15 , wherein one or both of the back support and the torso support are movable relative to the head support.
17. The adjustable chair of claim 1 , further including a plurality of wheels on which the adjustable chair is moveable, the wheels being retractable so that they may be elevated and the adjustable chair stabilized on the base.
18. The adjustable chair of claim 17 , further comprising a lift mechanism.
19. The adjustable chair of claim 1 , wherein the head support is adjustable to accommodate an angle of the person's neck.
20. An adjustable chair, comprising:
a base;
a cradle mounted on the base and configured for rotation along an arcuate path having a center of cradle rotation located above the cradle;
a seat mounted on the cradle for supporting a person to be seated thereon;
the adjustable chair having
1) a face down configuration in which the adjustable chair comprises a head support and a torso support and
2) a face up configuration in which the adjustable chair comprises the head support and a back support, wherein in the face down configuration of the adjustable chair the head support is configured to accommodate a head of the person face down while a torso of the person rests on the torso support and wherein in the face up configuration of the adjustable chair the head support is configured to accommodate the head of the person face up while a back of the person rests on the back support, and
the head support is positionable on the adjustable chair such that a center of the head of the person, when positioned on the head support in either the face up or the face down configuration while the person is seated on the seat, is within 0-3 inches radius from the center of cradle rotation,
wherein a position of the cradle on the base is adjustable along the arcuate path such that the head support remains substantially at the same spatial location as it was before the cradle adjustment along the arcuate path and wherein the adjustable chair is configured to be convertible between the face down configuration and the face up configuration.
21. The adjustable chair of claim 20 , wherein the adjustable chair is a hair transplantation chair and the hair transplantation chair is convertible between a harvesting configuration and an implantation configuration.
22. The adjustable chair of claim 20 , wherein the torso support converts to the back support when the adjustable chair is converted from the face down configuration to the face up configuration.
23. The adjustable chair of claim 20 , further comprising a lift mechanism configured to lift the adjustable chair onto a plurality of wheels.
24. The adjustable chair of claim 20 , wherein in the face down configuration the head support further comprises a central opening that receives the person's face.
25. The adjustable chair of claim 20 , wherein the head support is slidable and pivotable.