As a team of ambitious designers, engineers and medical students interning with M.I.C.E labs, we found our calling with the brief, "An effective way to prevent bed sores in chronically bed-ridden patients."
Our immediate thought was that the problem of pressure ulcers, more commonly known as bed sores, was a "seen but not heard of" topic. Pressure ulcers (also referred to as pressure sores, bed sores, pressure damage, pressure injuries and decubitus ulcers) are localised injuries to the skin and/or underlying tissue as a result of pressure.
Pressure damage usually occurs over bony prominences in patients who are bed-ridden and chronically ill. In laymen terms, these sores appear on the skin when a patient has not been able to move their body for a long time, which results in the loss of blood circulation and provision of essential nutrients to that part of the body.
In a country with a vast population like ours, bedridden patients are in the lakhs! Statistics tell us that more than 31,70,796 new cases of decubitus ulcers were registered in 2019 and the number is constantly increasing…
Adding to that, 6-10% of hospitalized patients in India suffer from pressure ulcers every year! With the effects of pressure ulcers ranging from minor itching to even death or amputation due to infection, we knew that this unmet clinical need had to be addressed.
Thus began our first stage of the project: Thorough research, diverging into all the different concepts and terms associated with Pressure ulcers, studying the existing treatments available as well as the statistics involving this health problem. Our in-house medical student, Aditi Gaikwad, helped us with the various directions that the problem could take us in. Through the help of digital research tools, we started mapping the scope of our project.
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