The development of a pressure notification system (PNS) is proposed for use as a practical adjunct in prevention of pressure ulcers. The overall health care costs for the treatment of pressure ulcers is estimated to be 3.5 billion dollars to 7 billion dollars annually. Despite the enormity of information available on the causes, prevention, and management of pressure ulcers, incidence rates remain unacceptably high. Factors contributing to this continuing public health problem include a diminished use of skilled nursing care due to a growing need to provide quality care in a cost-effective manner and a lengthened life span of seriously ill patients. The PNS alerts the patient and/or staff of prolonged localized pressure in areas predisposed to ulcer formation. This time-based monitoring strategy could augment existing schedule-based repositioning protocols by providing nursing staff with real-time status of their patients. The phase I effort will be divided into device development and a prospective pilot study. Understanding the relationship between exposure to pressure and healing rates of stage I or II pressure ulcers is the focus of this study and will provide valuable information about the ulcer healing process.Proposed Commercial Application:The long-term goal of this research is to develop a low-cost, technology-assisted prevention strategy to benefit bed and chair-bound patients predisposed to pressure ulcers in nursing homes, long-term care, and home care environments. A dramatic cost reduction to the general health care system could be realized with the successful development, commercialization, and implementation of the proposed system.
Thesaurus Terms:biomechanics, biomedical equipment development, decubitus ulcer, disease /disorder prevention /control, monitoring device computer program /software, computer system design /evaluation clinical research, human subjectNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NURSING RESEARCH
