Newswise \u2014 Hospital stays can be long and arduous; they can also cause serious complications. When a person lies in one position too long and begins to sweat, painful sores called pressure injuries (PIs) can form on the body, leading to infection or even death. A patient can develop a PI in a few days \u2014 or even a few hours. And once present, a PI is hard to treat.<\/p>\n
Previously known as pressure ulcers, PIs affect<\/a> 2.5 million patients and result in 60,000 deaths a year, from veterans<\/a> in wheelchairs to premature babies requiring life-support devices in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Even physicians wearing respirator masks for hours can be prone to PIs.<\/p>\n Another complication of PIs is that no one knows exactly how long it takes for them to form. Currently, the only way medical staff can prevent PIs is by manually turning bedridden or critically ill patients every few hours.<\/p>\n One missed turn can lead to more medical complications. The U.S. spends nearly $27 billion annually on PI medical care. Given the country\u2019s ongoing nursing shortage<\/a>, a more automated PI monitoring method needs to be implemented. This could ensure that patients leave the hospital better than when they arrived.<\/p>\n To address this issue, researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a new, flexible, sensor-filled fabric to monitor areas at risk of PIs and alert hospital staff when a patient needs to be turned.<\/p>\n \u201cI call this technology a paradigm shift,\u201d said Sundaresan Jayaraman<\/a>, a professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering<\/a> (MSE). \u201cWe\u2019re using a fabric that acts like a bedsheet under the patient. It collects pressure and moisture data unobtrusively \u2014 whether you’re lying in bed or sitting in a wheelchair. From this, we can predict when a PI is likely to occur and, more importantly, understand how long it takes to form.\u201d<\/p>\n This technology is currently being piloted on four cribs in the Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta<\/a> Arthur M. Blank Hospital Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), with the eventual goal of deploying it in 50 beds. The researchers hope their device becomes universal across healthcare systems, making PIs a thing of the past.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI call this technology a paradigm shift. We\u2019re using a fabric that acts like a bedsheet under the patient. It collects pressure and moisture data unobtrusively \u2014 whether you’re lying in bed or sitting in a wheelchair. From this, we can predict when a PI is likely to occur and, more importantly, understand how long it takes to form.\u201d \u2014Sundaresan Jayaraman<\/p>\n Sensor Scope<\/p>\n Jayaraman and collaborator Sungmee Park<\/a>, a principal research scientist in MSE, have been working on this project since 2017, which culminated in the successful proof-of-concept testing of the first version at Children\u2019s in 2019. Their next breakthrough managed PIs for individuals in wheelchairs with spinal cord injuries, such as veterans. The researchers collaborated with doctors at Children\u2019s to deploy the enhanced system in a clinical setting to help PICU patients. The research for this priority issue is funded by the Pediatric Technology Center<\/a> (PTC) \u2013 a joint partnership between Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta and Georgia Tech, including funds from the Imlay Foundation’s\u00a0Imlay Innovation Fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n