Bed sore Prevention using Pneumatic controls

Abstract

In today's situation of aging population issues concerning elderly care needs grave attention. The pressure ulcer or decubitus ulcer is a condition caused by pressure applied to the body surface for a certain period, resulting in blood flow insufficiency. To prevent pressure ulcers, it is necessary to change the patient body position at regular interims, to prevent continuous pressure on the bed to the body surface. However, the physical burden of the caregivers is increasing to fully execute this patient-repositioning due to various reasons like the aging of the caregivers, the busy schedule of the younger generation, etc. This paper is proposing a method to lower the occurrence of pressure ulcers (bed sores) in incapacitated patients. Smart Air mattress features support zones on each side of the mattress which is independently controlled by pressure sensor support. The mattress can automatically make pressure and positional modifications to avert patient injury and pain. An FSR sensor senses the pressure data which is being processed by an AT Mega 328pu to inflate or deflate an air mattress. The airflow is controlled by a solenoid valve using an air pump.