{"id":633036,"date":"2026-10-17T02:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T02:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/633036\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T02:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T02:50:14","slug":"how-ai-and-thermal-imaging-could-detect-pressure-injuries-early","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/633036\/","title":{"rendered":"How AI and Thermal Imaging Could Detect Pressure Injuries Early"},"content":{"rendered":"

A device that fits in the palm of your hand could be the key to detecting a hidden and potentially deadly risk to the human body. It\u2019s a personal issue for Marjan Monfared, who developed the PrevenTherm Monitoring System<\/a>, a prevention and patient management tool.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her maternal grandmother Mitan developed a pressure injury while hospitalized in an ICU in her home country of Iran. She had just had surgery to address a stomach tumor, and died as a result of complications of a bone infection from the pressure injury, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was like my guardian angel,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel her [like] when you walk barefoot on the soft grass and the sunlight hits your back in early April. She was that for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

This pivotal event in Monfared\u2019s life inspired her to develop a monitoring system for this condition. Through her startup Leaf Guardian, the PrevenTherm device uses thermal imaging and AI analysis to detect when and where a patient in an ICU may be developing a pressure injury.<\/p>\n

\"Monfared09\/24\/26 \u2013 BOSTON, MA. \u2013 Marjan Monfared, a Women Who Empower award winner, poses for a portrait on Sept. 24, 2026. Monfared created a device called Leaf Guardian which helps measure and monitor pressure injuries and assists with nurse documentation. Photo by Matthew Modoono\/Northeastern University<\/p>\n

\"A09\/24\/26 \u2013 BOSTON, MA. \u2013 Marjan Monfared, a Women Who Empower award winner, poses for a portrait on Sept. 24, 2026. Monfared created a device called Leaf Guardian which helps measure and monitor pressure injuries and assists with nurse documentation. Photo by Matthew Modoono\/Northeastern University
\nMarjan Monfared was named a fellow of the 2026 Women Who Empower Innovator Awards for her PrevenTherm device. Photos by Matthew Modoono\/Northeastern University<\/p>\n

A pressure injury happens when continuous pressure is applied to the soft tissue and can squeeze the blood vessels and cause ischemia, which is the reduced flow of blood and oxygen to the soft tissue. This can lead to tissue death, the permanent decline of cells and tissue, or even bone infections.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These injuries, more commonly known as bedsores, typically occur when someone is confined to a bed or chair. But they can develop anywhere on the body, even on the tip of one\u2019s ear, from the pressure of things like face masks or casts.<\/p>\n

Pressure injuries can be dangerous and costly. Each year, 60,000 people die from pressure injury-related complications in U.S. hospitals, according to the American Hospital Association. Each injury can cost from $2,000 up to $150,000 to treat.<\/p>\n

Monfared\u2019s device is used to scan the ICU patient\u2019s body to get a baseline thermal reading, and then is installed above the patient\u2019s bed for continuous monitoring. Parts of the body that lack heat could indicate a pressure injury, since there is no blood flowing to that area. Conversely, a spike of heat could point to an infection.<\/p>\n

For her venture, Monfared was named one of eight fellows of the 2026 Women Who Empower Innovator Awards<\/a>, a Northeastern program that invests in founders across categories of AI, technology, health, arts, entrepreneurship and social change.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so grateful,\u201d she said in an interview with Northeastern Global News. \u201cIn a deeper sense, more than gratitude, is acknowledgement. It\u2019s an acknowledgment so important because it\u2019s like water. Water is the only thing that the community pours upon you. Water is a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her grandmother, who was a nurse, would teach Monfared about the healing power of plants she grew in her home garden. Monfared wanted to become a physician growing up. But she pursued a bachelor\u2019s degree in mechanical engineering because it offered her a better chance at leaving her home country because there were greater job opportunities abroad, and hardly any scholarships for expensive medical degrees available in Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"PrevenThermThe device the Monfared developed helps continuously monitor patients to track any development of pressure injuries. Courtesy image<\/p>\n

While there, a professor told her she could combine these interests through biomedical engineering, and she worked on a wearable EKG monitor with a neighboring university. Monfared would end up moving to the U.S. and earning a graduate degree in civil engineering, working in this field for several years. But medicine still called to her.<\/p>\n

Monfared pursued an MBA at the D\u2019Amore-McKim School of Business, two years after her grandmother passed, because \u201cI was a good engineer, but I didn\u2019t have the business acumen.\u201d<\/p>\n

During her time at the business school, she won a grant through the Srinivasan Family Awards at Northeastern\u2019s Center for Emerging Markets, established for people trying to solve problems in countries that are transitioning from lower to higher income. This award helped her travel to India where she met with hospital representatives and entrepreneurs and tested her device.<\/p>\n

Ravi Ramamurti<\/a>, University Distinguished Professor of International Business and Strategy and director of the Center for Emerging Markets, said Monfared has what it takes \u2013 passion and tenacity \u2013 to be a successful entrepreneur.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if they don\u2019t succeed with the ventures or ideas we support, we think these are life-transforming investments,\u201d Ramamurti said of the development Northeastern afforded the award recipients. \u201cMarjan is one of those people who has really taken full advantage of that and grown, and she\u2019s run with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monfared said she hopes this device can be the \u201cSuperman cape\u201d for the healthcare industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the human level, we all have a certain capacity,\u201d she said. \u201cI believe AI, if it has been built and integrated well, can unlock a future that is more bright, safe and happy, truly, for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Hannah Morse is a news reporter at Northeastern Global News. Email her at ha.morse@northeastern.edu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A device that fits in the palm of your hand could be the key to detecting a hidden…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633037,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[365,2036,134,527,4859,7586,111,139,69,310255],"class_list":["post-633036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ai","tag-entrepreneur","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-mba","tag-medical-devices","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-women-who-empower"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}