New wheelchair device to help prevent Pressure Sores
Feb 17, 2014 0:55:00 GMT -8
Post by Lαrα on Feb 17, 2014 0:55:00 GMT -8
I came across a useful article that features a device that may be useful in assisting the prevention of pressure sores.....An interesting point is made in the article about Christopher Reeve.
After his own Spinal Cord Injury he and his foundation spent millions of dollars on stem cell research and yet he died from a pressure sore...
This device had been developed through a collaboration with SensiMAT Systems and the University of Toronto's Professor Milos Popovic.
"I'd been churning around in my mind two or three ideas that could be turned into products. One of those was a sitting cushion. We talked about what it should do, which patients it could help," says Popovic, who was named one of the University of Toronto's Inventors of the Year in 2013.
According to recent data, there are 2.2 million people who rely on wheelchairs in the U.S. and Canada alone. Up to 350,000 of that number suffer from spinal cord-specific injuries, a population with the highest risk of developing pressure sores – with a 95 per cent lifetime incidence rate of developing an ulcer.
According to recent data, there are 2.2 million people who rely on wheelchairs in the U.S. and Canada alone. Up to 350,000 of that number suffer from spinal cord-specific injuries, a population with the highest risk of developing pressure sores – with a 95 per cent lifetime incidence rate of developing an ulcer.
The SensiMAT is designed to help wheelchair users prevent pressure sores from forming in the first place. The system consists of a sensor-lined mat tailored to fit a wheelchair user's existing cushion.
Once the user sits in a chair, Bluetooth technology sends signals from the pressure-sensing mat to a smart phone app that alerts the user when – and where – pressure has begun to build up, following traffic light colours: red for trouble spots, green for pressure-free zones.
Once the user sits in a chair, Bluetooth technology sends signals from the pressure-sensing mat to a smart phone app that alerts the user when – and where – pressure has begun to build up, following traffic light colours: red for trouble spots, green for pressure-free zones.
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