Pressure Ulcer Prevention System

Existing pressure ulcer prevention systems are expensive and have not been designed to monitor specific at-risk areas on patients. WPI and UMMS have thus been working together to develop a more effective, affordable system to monitor localized pressure and microclimate conditions over at-risk areas on patients and warn caretakers when and where tissue damage might occur before pressure ulcers develop. The objective of the Pressure Ulcer Prevention Major Qualifying Project was to contribute towards these efforts by converting an existing wired system into a wireless system, with sensor patches able to detect localized pressure and temperature, store and transmit data from at least 3 separate at-risk areas on a patient to 1 computer, and operate untethered for at least 7 consecutive days