Design and Construction of a Smart Mattress for Monitoring Bedsore Ulcer Prevention in Sedentary Patients

Abstract

Pressure sore or bedsore is an injury to an area of body tissue that has been disrupted or lacked blood supply due to long-term pressure. The risk of developing a bedsore is usually higher in the bony areas of the body because there is more pressure on the skin and less fat in these areas. This complication is very common among the elderly and sedentary patients, which requires the need for care and nursing of these people all day. In this article, design and implementation of a smart mattress are demonstrated; this system can estimate the time to reach the stage of bedsore and set an essential warnings or call for caregiver or nurse to move the body area at risk. Our designed smart mattress consists of several pressure sensors assembled under a sheet, which is possible to measure the pressure intensity of different areas of the body arising from the patient's weight while lying down on the mattress. By processing the gathered information against time, the necessary warnings can be processed and send to the nurse based on the patient's weight per area and the risk factor related to patient's age. Our proposed system is based on a real-time pressure-sensing algorithm cognitive support system that augments the ability of a caregiver, allowing them to provide better care to more patients in less time. The operation and development of this system will have an effective point in preventing and reducing bedsore on patients who have medical conditions that limit their ability to change positions or cause them to spend most of their time in a bed or chair.