The solution: Smart pressure ulcer prevention
Our solution provides continuous insight into the position and movements of the patient. We use this information to give smart guidance to nurses, involve the patients in repositioning, and provide overview to wound specialists. In this way, it is possible to reduce pressure ulcer incidence with more than 50%.
The solution is build up in two parts: a sensor that is placed beneath the matress and a control unit. The sensors are invisible and thin, which means the patient cannot feel the sensors. The control unit is placed next to the bed, either at the head or foot end. This control unit runs our algorithms to present caregivers with the right information. We can know the presence of the patient in bed, posture (left side, right side, back), and activity level. The control unit also serves as an interface to the nurses and other caregivers. Both the sensor and the control unit are illustrated below.
Control unit
Sensor
The benefits
Improve quality of care
Reduce patient suffering
Monitor protocol compliance
Reduce pressure ulcer incidence
Reduce healthcare cost
Reduce time spent on
- Prevention
- Treatment
- Administration
Reduce spending on
- Woundcare materials
- Preventive materials
Reduce workload for nurses
Avoid overtreatment
Less wound treatment
Reduce administration
The problem: pressure ulcers
Pressure ulcers are still a major problem in healthcare, causing patient suffering, increased expenditure and a higher workload for healthcare staff. Annually, over €15 billion is spent on pressure ulcers in the EU. This means that prevention is key to improving healthcare.
The best prevention method is regularly changing the posture of the patient. However, this method has a big problem: there is no information about the posture and movements of the patient over time. This can result in overtreatment and undertreatment. When repositioning is not done often enough, the chances are high that a pressure ulcer will develop. When repositioning is done too often, this takes up valuable time of the nurse and causes inconvenience to the patient.