Medical device related pressure ulcers

We are developing multiple physical and computer model systems to investigate the conditions and scenarios at which medical device-related pressure injuries occur. Development of such experimental and computer models is essential for creating laboratory standards for testing the safety of medical devices that contact the skin of weight-bearing organs. Based on our findings, we feel that the design of medical devices and equipment used in critical care settings should be re-visited, since currently, there appears to be no attention to the safety of use with regard to the pressure injury risk.

Much can be done with regard to design of device structures, selection of materials and integration of mechanisms that minimize the risk of misplacement under the body, so that wires, electrodes, tubes and other equipment can be made safer, even if forgotten or misplaced between the patient and support.

For example, selection of better materials which are more compliant (have stiffness properties that are similar to those of soft tissues) and conform to the shape of the weight-bearing body or the surface of the body that is subjected to mechanical loads may prove to prevent many of the device-related pressure ulcers.

Likewise, design of flat wiring rather than wiring with a circular cross-section, development of soft electrodes made of conducting textiles and similar ideas can vastly minimize the occurrence of these injuries.

These topics are investigated in our laboratory by integrated means of experiments and simulations.