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A novel system to tackle hospital acquired pressure ulcers
B. S. Renganathan, S. P. Preejith, ,
Published in Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
2016
PMID: 28269339
Volume: 2016-October
   
Pages: 4780 - 4783
Abstract
Hospital acquired pressure ulcers (HAPUs) is a major problem that affects around one in twenty patients who are admitted in hospital with sudden illness. These ulcers often occur when patients have limited mobility and cannot change positions in bed on their own. Traditionally, the occurrence of HAPUs has been minimized by turning the patient every 2 hours to alternating lateral and supine positions, and by using pressure redistributing mattresses. In many healthcare facilities, such a patient repositioning schedule is not always maintained owing to low caregiver compliance to turning protocols. Difficulty in monitoring patient position continuously, lack of turn reminders/alerts and suboptimal caregiver staffing ratio increases the occurrence of HAPUs. A novel method to address the need for improved pressure ulcer prevention is presented. The proposed method consists of a wearable device which continuously monitors the patient's position and communicates wirelessly with a tablet which enables alerts to be sent to the caregiver when a patient turn is due in accordance with the protocol adopted by the hospital. The patient's position is continuously monitored and the turning procedure carried out is logged and updated on the hospital's cloud system, thereby enabling centralized monitoring. Under a controlled setting, system was able to continuously monitor patient's position and can accurately detect standard patient positions. © 2016 IEEE.
Concepts (24)
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    Algorithm
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    BED
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    Computer system
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    Equipment design
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    Human
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    MEDICAL INFORMATICS
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    PATIENT LIFTING
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    PATIENT POSITIONING
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    PHYSIOLOGIC MONITORING
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    Pressure
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    Pressure ulcer
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    SKIN CARE
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    Software
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    Wireless communication
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    Algorithms
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    BEDS
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    Computer systems
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    Humans
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    MEDICAL INFORMATICS
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    MONITORING, PHYSIOLOGIC
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    MOVING AND LIFTING PATIENTS
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    PATIENT POSITIONING
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    SKIN CARE
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    WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY