Towards the prevention of pressure ulcers with a wearable patient posture monitor based on adaptive accelerometer alignment.
Pressure ulcers are a serious problem affecting over a million patients every year. Despite accepted guidelines for assessing and repositioning high-risk patients, the prevalence of pressure ulcers continues to rise. This paper presents a wearable, wireless vital sign monitor capable of continuously measuring the duration and orientation of a patient's posture throughout the patient's stay in a hospital. Patient posture is determined using a tri-axial accelerometer attached to a patient's torso. A novel set of algorithms are used to process the accelerometer signals to adaptively identify accelerometer alignment on the patient, calculate patient spine angle, and classify patient orientation. A unique pressure ulcer risk index based on these variables is presented to assess a patient's risk for developing pressure ulcers. Experimental results from an 18 subject trial are also presented.
the Research Group at Sotera Wireless, San Diego, CA 92121, USA. mdhillon@soterawireless.com
Marshal S
MS
Dhillon
Scott A
SA
McCombie
Devin B
DB
McCombie
D000054:Acceleration; D056044:Actigraphy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005246:Feedback; D006801:Humans; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D011187:Posture; D003668:Pressure Ulcer / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D055986:Vital Signs; D055815:Young Adult