Bedsores Management: Efficiency Simulation of a New Mattress Design

Abstract

Bedsores, also known as pressure ulcers, are wounds caused by the applied external force (pressure) on body segments, thereby preventing blood supply from delivering the required elements to the skin tissue. Missing elements hinder the skin’s ability to maintain its health. It poses a significant threat to patients that have limited mobility. A new patented mattress design and alternative suggested designs aimed to reduce pressure are investigated in this paper for their performance in decreasing pressure. A simulation using Ansys finite element analysis (FEA) is carried out for comparison. Three-dimensional models are designed and tested in the simulation for a mattress and human anthropometric segments (Torso and Hip). All designs are carried out in solidworks. Results show that the original design can redistribute the pressure and decrease it up to 17% less than the normal mattress. The original design shows better ability to decrease the absolute amount of pressure on the body. However, increasing the surface area of the movable parts results in less pressure applied to the body parts. Thus, this work suggests changing the surface area of the cubes from 25 to 100 cm2.

The biomechanical efficacy of a hybrid support surface in protecting supine patients from sacral pressure ulcers

“…Previous published work focused on reactive (static) support surfaces rather than on active or alternating pressure mattresses. 5,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20] The literature reporting computational modelling studies of advanced support surfaces is overall still sparse, 16,17 and none specifically refers to HSS. Hence the novel aspects in the current work are the focus on deep tissue load changes occurring when the support surface action changes from static to dynamic/ alternating, and in particular, on identifying the MOA of the studied HSS in protecting patients at-risk for PUs/PIs.…”

“…Previous published work focused on reactive (static) support surfaces rather than on active or alternating pressure mattresses 5,14‐20 . The literature reporting computational modelling studies of advanced support surfaces is overall still sparse, 16,17 and none specifically refers to HSS.…”

Development of a Classifier and a Simulator to Support the Design of an Anti-Decubitus Active Mattress

“…These works are extremely important to analyse the real effects of anti-sores devices and consequently optimize them; however, the physical device or prototype is obviously always needed. In the design context, finite element simulations have been accomplished to compare the performance in reducing pressure between a new patented mattress design and alternative suggested designs (Alwasel et al 2022); however, they only give indications on the mattress components dimensioning. Therefore, what emerges is the lack of simple systems, easy to be used and able to support the design of medical devices, such as anti-decubitus mattresses, reducing time and resource efforts in developing and testing prototypes, and giving helpful suggestions about the sensors choice.…”

Secreted Protein Acidic and Rich in Cysteine as an Exercise-Induced Gene: Towards Novel Molecular Therapies for Immobilization-Related Muscle Atrophy in Elderly Patients

“…The increased number of hospitalized individuals lead to the development of various fields aiming to improve and optimize the healthcare within hospitals [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Patients admitted to hospitals have, beside treating the reasons of their admission, also to face other challenges such as possible nosocomial infections [ 6 ], bedsores [ 7 , 8 ] and musculoskeletal atrophy. Furthermore, post-hospitalization recovery of the mobility remains a challenge due to the immobilization (bed rest)-induced muscle atrophy.…”