Hospitals Eliminate Bedsores Using NASA Mars Technology

The same technology used for NASA's Mars lander has been used to eliminate the occurrence of bedsores in more than half a dozen hospitals, while other hospitals were able to reduce the instances of bedsores as much as 90-percent. The technology works by detecting damage in the process of developing in a patient's skin before it becomes a visible ulcer, allowing medical facilities to address and treat it before it grows into a larger problem.

Bedsores are a serious condition that can develop in instances where pressure is continually applied to the skin, such as in bed-bound patients who aren't rotated frequently enough. These skin sores can, in some cases, be life-threatening, and have contributed to the death of many patients. Preventing these sores is essential, but also difficult.

However, by using an early detection technology that was originally adapter for use by the NASA Mars lander, hospitals are able to detect this budding damage early. The SEM Scanner was tested by thirteen hospitals participating in the Pressure Ulcer Prevention Program to gauge the technology's effectiveness. More than 1200 patients were scanned using the technology, providing a mass of data on its effectiveness.

Of these 13 hospitals, more than half of them are said to have fully eliminated bedsores. Another three hospitals reduced the instances of bedsores in numbers ranging from 11-percent to 90-percent. Not only does this indicate great things for patient health, hospitals will also save a considerable number of hours and costs associated with the treatment of bedsores using this technology.

SOURCE: PRNewswire