Mobile application to aid in the prevention of Pressure Ulcers

Abstract

Pressure Ulcer (PU) is a wound in the skin and underlying tissues caused by the lack of patient’s movement leading to prolonged pressure exposure on certain body part. The PU’s may cause complications to the patient’s treatment, since it becomes a route of infection. Consequently, it can extend the length of hospital stay and treatment costs. This paper presents the development of a smartphone app to assist healthcare professionals in the prevention of Pus in bedridden patients. The developed app aims to collect and analyze data for estimating the severity of a health episode regarding suffering from patients. In addition, a prototype was developed for testing using the Wearable platform, based on temperature and humidity sensors together with ZigBee modules for data acquisition and communication between architecture components. This approach simplifies the interaction between sensors, applications, and medical staff with a focus on improved patient care.