Remotely monitoring and preventing the development of pressure ulcers with the aid of human digital memories

摘要

There is growing concern, among senior personnel in the National Health Service in the UK, over the increased development of pressure ulcers. The occurrence of pressure ulcers has been attributed to prolong sedentary behaviour. Providing care, for this preventable condition, is costly and time-consuming for patients and medical practitioners. Extra bedside assistance is needed; however, with the workload of medical staff increasing, this is not always practical. In order to prevent the occurrence of pressure ulcers new and novel ways of remotely monitoring patients is essential. An interesting approach worth considering is the use of human digital memories, which provide visual life logs of a patient's physiological and environmental data. This paper discusses some of the current technologies used within the area and how they might be applied to the management and prevention of pressure ulcers. We have successfully developed a working prototype system to demonstrate the applicability of our approach.