US Patent Issued to Stryker on June 17 for "System and methods for supporting and positioning a person" (Michigan Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,329,703, issued on June 17, was assigned to Stryker Corp. (Portage, Mich.).

"System and methods for supporting and positioning a person" was invented by Patrick Lafleche (Kalamazoo, Mich.) and Justin Jon Raymond (Jackson, Mich.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A system for supporting and positioning a person. A flexible cover layer defines a support surface for the person, and a formable layer is coupled to the flexible cover layer. The formable layer includes a sealed bladder adapted to be in fluid communication with a vacuum source, and particles disposed within the sealed bladder. The system is operable in a first configuration in the a...