Title :
Design of a wheelchair pressure monitoring system
Author :
Russo, J.L. ; Cezeaux, J.L.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Biomed. Eng., Western New England Coll., Springfield, MA, USA
Abstract :
The application of pressure to one area of skin for an extended period of time may lead to a loss in blood flow. This in turn may lead to the formation of a pressure sore. These could be life threatening and require very expensive negative pressure treatments in order to cure. Pressure sores are a large problem for paraplegics in wheelchairs since they are seated all day and cannot feel anything from their waist down. Currently, cushions are made to distribute this pressure. These patients are also trained to perform a push-up to restore blood flow to the tissue. The proposed design is to use a pressure mapping system to measure the seating pressure of a patient and alarm them if the pressure needs to be relieved. This may reduce the occurrence of pressure sores, especially in non-compliant patients who do not routinely perform push-ups.
Keywords :
biomechanics; blood pressure measurement; diseases; patient monitoring; skin; wheelchairs; blood flow loss; negative pressure treatments; pressure mapping system; pressure sore; seating pressure; wheelchair pressure monitoring system design; Biomedical engineering; Biomedical measurements; Biomedical monitoring; Blood flow; Costs; Educational institutions; Pressure measurement; Safety; Skin; Wheelchairs;
Conference_Titel :
Bioengineering Conference, Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE 36th Annual Northeast
Conference_Location :
New York, NY
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-6879-9
DOI :
10.1109/NEBC.2010.5458240
