Fabric-based pressure sensor array for decubitus ulcer monitoring.

Decubitus ulcers occur in an estimated 2.5 million Americans each year at an annual cost of $11 billion to the U.S. health system. Current screening and prevention techniques for assessing risk for decubitus ulcer formation and repositioning patients every 1-2 hours are labor-intensive and can be subjective. We propose use of a Bluetooth-enabled fabric-based pressure sensor array as a simple tool to objectively assess and continuously monitor decubitus ulcer risk.