Revolutionizing Care: Designing Smart Pressure Mats to Prevent Bedsores in Ability Beyond’s Residential Care Facilities
Written by Bo Liu
Last summer, I embarked on a project with Ability Beyond to address a critical challenge in supporting their residents' care. Ability Beyond is a non-profit organization that provides a wide range of services to individuals with disabilities, including residential living programs that serve people with limited mobility. Ensuring the timely repositioning of individuals receiving residential care services is critical to preventing skin integrity issues. Failure to adhere to repositioning schedules can result in debilitating bedsores, which can affect a resident’s overall health and quality of life.
The Challenge
As a Siegel PiTech PhD Impact Fellow, I worked with Ability Beyond to improve their methods for ensuring timely, appropriate repositioning of individuals receiving services at their residences. I learned that traditional methods for addressing skin breakdown issues rely on caregivers manually tracking repositioning with pen and paper. Given that residents need to be repositioned every 30 to 60 minutes, according to healthcare protocols, such manual methods are not only cumbersome and time-consuming but also prone to errors and inefficiencies. Furthermore, they offer limited opportunities for innovation and improvement. Recognizing the need for a more efficient approach, I set out to develop a solution that would improve Ability Beyond’s caregivers’ accuracy and streamline their resident monitoring processes— without compromising resident privacy. A major concern with home monitoring devices is the use of cameras, which, while effective for resident monitoring, can make individuals feel like they are being constantly watched. Moreover,, cameras are prohibited inside Intermediate Care Facilities funded group homes.
Fig 1. System workflow
Innovative Approach
After exploring several potential technologies, I set out to prototype something that could both monitor sleep activities and send notifications to caregivers through smartphone apps or speakers located in the caregiver center. I found that a modified pressure mat could effectively meet these requirements. I designed a pressure mat capable of detecting subtle changes in bed activity that uses Z-Wave technology to transmit data wirelessly. My approach would enable caregivers to receive real-time alerts about significant movements made by a resident and the need for repositioning.
“My approach would enable caregivers to receive real-time alerts about significant movements made by a resident and the need for repositioning.”
Technical Prototype
I re-engineered the pressure mat to detect changes in weight distribution in a resident’s bed. Once linked to a Z-Wave module, it sends notifications directly to caregiver devices and can even connect to speakers within the home as an additional alert system. Importantly, I integrated the system with Samsung SmartThings to allow for seamless connection and control through a widely-used smart home platform. This was particularly useful at night because it reduced the need for frequent room checks and allowed for better sleep for both residents and healthcare staff.
Fig 2. Bed activities are captured by a sensor pad and sent to smart home system
Impact and Future Directions
Bo Liu
Ph.D. Student, Computer Science, Cornell Tech
Through testing of our smart sensor system, we observed a significant reduction in caregiver workload, which resulted in an improvement in resident care quality. We placed our device under a resident’s bed and collected data remotely. The data we collected gave us valuable insights into potential improvements for real-world environments. Our modified pressure mat helped ensure that the resident was repositioned according to required schedules and in precise positions, thus preventing skin integrity issues more proactively and effectively. Looking ahead, we aim to refine this technology, enhance its integration with Ability Beyond’s existing smart home systems, and explore further applications of it in other areas of healthcare monitoring.
In addition, we are exploring a partnership with an IOT company to leverage their expertise in smart home technology. This collaboration would allow us to pass our currently collected data into an online database, enhancing our capabilities for data analysis and enabling more advanced resident monitoring solutions. The potential for automated position adjustments and more personalized care protocols presents exciting avenues for future development.