title: A flexible pressure monitoring system for pressure ulcer prevention.
abstract: Pressure ulcers are painful sores that arise from prolonged exposure to high pressure points, which restricts blood flow and leads to tissue necrosis. This is a common occurrence among patients with impaired mobility, diabetics and the elderly. In this work, a flexible pressure monitoring system for pressure ulcer prevention has been developed. The prototype consists of 99 capacitive pressure sensors on a 17-cm x 22-cm sheet which is flexible in two dimensions. Due to its low cost, the sensor sheet can be disconnected from the reusable electronics and be disposed of after use, suitable for a clinical setting. Each sensor has a resolution of better than 2-mmHg and a range of 50-mmHg and offset is calibrated in software. Realtime pressure data is displayed on a computer. A maximum sampling rate of 12-Hz allows for continuous monitoring of pressure points.
authors: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. yipm@mit.edu
authors: Marcus
authors: M
authors: Yip
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Da He
authors: Eric
authors: E
authors: Winokur
authors: Amanda Gaudreau
authors: AG
authors: Balderrama
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Sheridan
authors: Hongshen
authors: H
authors: Ma
mesh_terms: D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011312:Pressure; D003668:Pressure Ulcer / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012984:Software; D014160:Transducers, Pressure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data