Method and apparatus for mitigating the risk of pressure sores
US7378975B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 5, 2006 |
| Grant date | May 27, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 18, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG08B21/0492
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
There is provided herein a sensor/monitor combination designed to reduce the risk of pressure ulcer occurrence in immobile patients, wherein the level of patient activity is tracked to determine whether or not that patient has exhibited sufficient activity to merit eliminating a scheduled assisted relocation to a new position. The instant device senses the time since a patient last relocated into a different sitting or lying position. If the patient has not moved during some predetermined time period, the nursing staff will be notified by the invention that it is time to manually reposition the patient. If the patient has significantly changed position during the predetermined time period and, thus, allowed previously compressed tissues to reoxygenate, the invention will not signal that a move is necessary, thereby eliminating the need in some cases to rouse the patient from an otherwise healing sleep.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.