Sovereign ROHO
Sovereign High Care Modular Air Mattress
Long Term and Homecare
Hospital Pressure Care Mattresses
Aged Care Pressure Care Mattresses
The Sovereign mattress, integrated with ROHO® DRY FLOATATION® Technology, offers trusted and proven care for high to very high-risk clients. Designed as a static support surface, it strikes a balance between immersion, breathability, postural support, and superior comfort, making it ideal for those with complex care needs.
Whether it’s for pain management, palliative care wards, or home care clients, the Sovereign ROHO® Modular Air Mattress adapts to various configurations. It ensures deep immersion without compromising mobility, thanks to its unique Airoform Response foam.
Constructed using high-performance foams and covered with the Premiflex Ultra Premium Breathe Pressure Care cover, this mattress delivers ultimate durability and consistent care over time.
Specifications
Positioning Options
Features
Airoform Memory Breathe Immersion Interface Layer
- High-temperature stability ensures consistent immersion, performance, and comfort.
- Maximizes patient contact with the support surface for effective pressure redistribution.
- Alleviates localized pressure points for enhanced comfort.
- Calibrated depth maximizes functionality and patient mobility.
- Prevents collapse, tearing, and sideways twisting, ensuring the full benefit of immersion.
- The unique Airoform Breathe ventilation system minimizes heat entrapment, improving core circulation and providing a cooler sleep surface.
- Visco-elastic/memory foam cell structure offers a low-shear, soft surface.
High-Performance, 4-Zoned Immersion Region
- Four zones of lateral and longitudinal castellations cradle the patient and conform to bony prominences.
- Dual-zoned depth offers enhanced postural support.
- Open-cell foams promote air distribution and circulation.
- Reduces shearing forces at the patient interface for improved comfort.
- Ultra-high performance foam responds instantly to patient movement, making repositioning easier for caregivers.
DRY FLOATATION® Technology
- ROHO® DRY FLOATATION® provides a supportive environment for protection and healing using the original non-powered, air-filled, adjustable, zoned, reactive mattress sections.
- Made of soft, interconnected air cells, the DRY FLOATATION mattress conforms to the body’s contours, helping soft tissue maintain its shape to aid the healing process.
- Each section is independently adjustable, creating a low-pressure environment across multiple contact points.
- Non-powered design makes it ideal for home care, especially in cases where power failure may be a concern.
ROHO® Internal Placement
- ROHO® valve extensions allow pressure adjustments without removing the cover, reducing the risk of infection.
- Minimizes the chance of unauthorized pressure adjustments or unintentional tampering with settings.
- Enables efficient cleaning without needing to remove mattress sections.
ROHO® Positioning
- Available with 1 to 4 ROHO® mattress sections.
- Supplied with Sovereign-style foam inserts to replace ROHO® sections as needed.
Premium Firm Foundation Layer
- Prevents ‘bottoming-out’ during transfers, repositioning, and while in the inclined/Fowler position.
- Delivers exceptional comfort and support for both repositioning and patient care.
Sloped Heel Pressure Transfer Zone
- Enhances pressure relief and protection for the critical at-risk heel area.
- Offloads pressure from the heels and transfers it to the calf region.
- Requires no adjustment, providing seamless and unobtrusive support.
Hinged Strengthened Sides
- Increases lateral stability of the support surface.
- Improves patient safety and encourages central positioning.
- Facilitates easier patient transfers.
- Unique hinge profile reduces foam fatigue and allows the mattress to conform to various bed positions.
- Enhances ease of primary patient care.
About the Sovereign
High Care Support Pressure Care Mattress
Dual Immersion
Enhanced Microclimate
Easy Repositioning
Heel Slope
MICRO-CLIMATE
Adverse Skin Micro-climate conditions (temperature, humidity and airflow next to the skin surface) can significantly compromise skin integrity and weaken the skin leaving it more vulnerable to its environment. The build-up of moisture and/or heat typically leads to sweating therefore overhydration of this skin. Overhydration and excessive moisture softens the skin and connective tissue which leads to maceration and the breaking down of the elasticity of the skin. This weakening of the skin greatly increases the susceptibility to damage by environmental factors. In addition to this, sweating and overhydration removes natural oils from the skin, which are needed to lubricate and protect the skin.
As such, micro-climate is a risk factor that must be managed to prevent pressure injury occurrence on an at-risk patient, and a support surface is an important tool in managing micro-climate.
The Sovereign S6 has been designed to manage micro-climate by minimising excessive build-up of heat by drawing heat away from the patient and distributing it through the foam core and out the base.
The following mattress technologies have been used to manage micro-climate:
- Premium foam grades that have a high ‘hot spot’ rating have been selected
- Airoform Gel Immersion Interface – a visco-elastic memory foam with gel particles impregnated throughout. The gel particles absorb heat from the patient.
- Airoform Response Secondary Immersion layer – Engineered or modulated foam which allows air to flow within the foam core, as well as providing better immersion
- Super Sheer Inner Cover – fully breathable anti-shearing system which reduces sheer and friction forces without compromising on the ability of the mattress to manage moisture and micro-climate
- Premiflex Ultra outer cover –polyurethane cover with full vapour permeability which means any vapour that has been absorbed from the patient is able to escape out the base, as opposed to building up on the base of the mattress
SHEER & FRICTION
There are two types of mechanical loads working against the individual on a support surface – upward pressure, and a force parallel to the skin surface. These parallel forces are called sheer and/or friction.
Friction is surface resistance to relative motion, as of a body sliding or rolling, and the rubbing of the surface on one body against that of another. An example related to our clients would be their skin against the sheets on the bed.
To fully understand the impact of a friction force we must understand what the coefficient of friction means. The coefficient of friction is defined as the ratio of the force required to move two sliding surfaces over each other and the force holding them together. The higher the coefficient of friction, the more aggressively the two surfaces will adhere to each other. The lower the coefficient of friction is, the more easily the two surfaces will slide across each other.
For tissue damage to occur, the coefficient must be at a level high enough to create drag that will injure the superficial layers. Decreased levels of friction allow the surfaces to easily slide across each other. Too much friction and there is no movement at all.
Shear is a different subject that incorporates friction and another force, usually gravity or inertia. Shear is often described as an internal opposing motion of tissue and bone created when a patient is sitting up in bed. Gravity affects all tissues or skin layers, pulling them down in a slow, gradual manner. Simultaneously, the skin interacts with the sheets creating friction. As the bone is pulled down by gravity and the skin is in essence ‘pulled up’ by the sheet, the subcutaneous tissue and muscle are caught in between, literally pulled in opposite directions, leading to shear. This pulling creates stress on the soft tissue layers (fat and muscle) and potentially could lead to tearing of the tissue – depending on how high the shearing force becomes. The greatest stress is also now applied to the two tissues that are the least tolerant of ischemia from the concurrent pressure from sitting. Shearing forces are greater over the sacrum, gluteal and ischial areas of the body.
Both friction and shear are affected by moisture. Dry conditions reduce friction.
How the wound or injury developments in these scenarios –
The force from shear or friction will cause the skin and/or deeper tissues to distort and deform, which will result in strain and stress within the tissue. Excessive internal strains and stresses lead to damage to the cell structures such as the cytoskeleton and may hinder transport processes within the tissues such as reducing blood perfusion.
An effective pressure reducing support surface must reduce both shear and friction forces, as well as manage moisture, to reduce the risk of pressure injuries.
The Sovereign S6 has been designed to reduce sheer & friction forces by using the following mattress technologies:
- Super Sheer Inner Cover – high stretch lycra cover that sits below the outer cover to act as a buffer between the friction or shearing force exerted by movements in the support surface and the individual. As such, instead of the mattress cover (which is usually a polyurethane – a high coefficient of friction) rubbing against the client’s skin when they are changing position in bed, the mattress cover rubs against the inner cover, and the client can slide with minimal frictional or shearing forces. It is important to note that the Super Sheer cover is fully breathable to ensure micro-climate is managed.
- Premiflex Ultra Outer Cover – made from a four-way stretch polyurethane. Pressure care covers must have a minimum of two-way stretch to reduce the coefficient of friction and the potential forces of shearing & friction.
- Hinged strengthened sides – the firm strengthened sides have been engineered to have hinges located in the knee and back break to allow the mattress to conform easily to a profiling bed. Without these hinges, the mattress will create friction when profiling.
- All micro-climate management related features also reduce tension and the risk of shear/friction related injuries
DUAL IMMERSION
Traditional medical mattresses such as multi-layered memory foam designs or profile designs can struggle to effectively provide Immersion together with Shear and Friction Mitigation without compromising on microclimate and ease of repositioning for offloading. This exposes vulnerable patients to greater risks of pressure injury incidence as a result of poor microclimate and difficulty in relation to repositioning leading to pain and suffering for the patient and considerable nursing cost and resource to manage. This is why dual immersion technology used on the Sovereign range was developed. This consists of an Airoform Immersion Foam interface and an engineered multi-zoned modulated 2nd layer of foam such as Ventraflow.
Both the Interface and modulated layers work together to create a dynamic region that absorbs harmful shear and friction forces, protecting vulnerable skin. Postural support of the mattress is increased, yet unparalleled immersion is created with the softness of the interface layer and deflection of the profiled region, particularly important for bony prominences.
SLOPED HEEL REGION
The heels are one of the most susceptible sites for pressure injuries, due to factors such as heel anatomy, disease burden, comorbid conditions, and the aging process. Heel Pressure Injuries (HPI) has been found to be one of the most prevalent sites for pressure injuries to occur, with a study in Europe identifying that 38.5% of stage IV pressure injuries were found at the heels. Pressure upon the Calcaneus can be reduced and redistributed by elevating the lower leg and calf 2. There are three primary designs of heel elevation discussed in this article: the Heel Slope (Surface Modification), Heel elevator (external device) and the elevated Heel slope (Hybrid Model).
Though essential in the clinical setting, and particularly with those that are medically complex, elevating the heel and redistributing the pressure towards the calf is a difficult task. There are several implementation considerations such as ensuring the knee is at a slight flexion (5-10°) while the heel is elevated can help avoid vein compression and increased risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), adapting a plan of care to the individuals’ needs and avoiding causing harm to other ‘at-risk’ areas of the body (such as the Achilles tendon).
With patients on a traditional support surface with a completely horizontal fascia (no heel slope) and no additional aid from an external heel device, pressure injuries upon the heel region are more common than with heels that have elevated heels, with differences being from an 8% to 54.2% incidence on heel injury respectively.
Forté has conducted studies to illustrate the basic principles of heel offloading using a Tekscan Pressure Measurement System which utilises a thin and flexible sensor. We use this system to measure the pressure distribution of a human body on the surface of our mattresses with minimal interference.
The image demonstrates the pressure distribution of the NPIAP/RESNA 50th Percentile male mannequin (81.2kg, 1775mm tall) over a 6-hour period, shown in a variety of heel positions. The Support surface used is a Single Sovereign S3 High-Care Mattress.
Such a decrease in pressure, therefore, signifies the importance of heel offloading, and indirectly the importance of utilising a support surface modified with a heel slope as a means of offloading such pressure and reducing risk of an HPI. Furthermore, the heel slope was identified to encourage a slight bend in the knee of approximately 8-10°, in comparison to a flat surface which evidence has suggested reduces popliteal vein compression.
Manufacturing
Forté Healthcare have the inhouse capacity to develop and produce engineered foams that can be used to offer unique features and functions within a mattress. Examples of this are the unique Ventraflow and Dual Immersion Technologies offered by Forté.
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Hear what Health Professionals say About Forté Healthcare Mattresses…
I really like your products and I have been to training held at AMS. I love the fact your products are Australian made and considered “local” for us in Newcastle.
Occupational Therapist
Newcastle, NSW
Forté Healthcare has been a pleasure to work with – the team is always easy to talk to and quick to respond to questions, queries and issues. We also had difficulty with a product and a new one was delivered the following business day ensuring participant safety and satisfaction.
Occupational Therapist
Sydney, NSW
We are really happy with the mattresses. Fantastic product especially given the short time frame for supply
Facility
Burnett Heads, QLD
You are amazing, it is on site with the client the day after it arrived. Can not thank you enough, really appreciate it. Hope you have a great week, you certainly made mine
Distributor
Melbourne, VIC
Great product and Australian made. Locally owned and run as well as being a team of lovely people.
Customer
Sydney, NSW
Customer service is fantastic. Products are of a high quality. A pleasure to deal with Forte.
Distributor
Sydney, NSW
Excellent company to deal with, quick turnaround. Carol fabulous to work with
Distributor
Sunshine Coast, QLD
Have I mentioned what a fabulous company Forte is to deal with? It’s rare these days to have such tremendous support.
Distributor
Sunshine Coast, QLD
Your products are easy to recommend as they are perfect for so many of our clients.
(And it helps that they are made in NSW too)
Distributor
Sunshine Coast, QLD
Always an efficient and reliable service backed up by the personal, genuine communication.
Distributor
Adelaide, SA
You guys are amazing! The service and follow up care is next to none. Love working with you guys!
Occupational Therapist
Sydney, NSW
Really helpful team at Forte, prompt with communication, great product knowledge, and they have gone above and beyond to support our purchase experience.
Aged Care Facility
Melbourne, VIC
I couldn’t speak highly enough of the team at Forte Healthcare. The team are a pleasure to work with, always professional, prompt and knowledgeable in their responses.
If you’re searching for an Australian made QUALITY medical mattress, look no further than Forte Healthcare, you won’t be disappointed!
Distributor
TAS
An awesome team here and some Very, Very innovative products!
Hospital
Sydney, NSW
Love the products, can not fault it in any way, the service from sales staff is exceptional.
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Townsville, QLD
Always reliable, responsive, knowledgeable, helpful and suppliers of quality products. I’m a Forte fan!
Distributor
Melbourne, VIC
An amazing team of experts in the Medical Mattress world, with fantastic products!
Distributor
Melbourne, VIC
10/10 for mattress quality and selection and 10/10 for service from Bradley, Carol and Crystal.
Distributor
Melbourne, VIC
We love forte !!! Carol and the team at forte are amazing to deal with. The forte products sell themselves.
Distributor
Melbourne, VIC