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Advanced support surfaces and textiles for optimizing interface pressure and friction in pressure ulcer pre-vention for newborns.
Pressure ulcers are a critical healthcare challenge, leading to increased morbidity, extended hospital stays, and higher mortality rates. These injuries, caused by sustained pressure, friction, and shear forces, affect pa-tients across all demographics, with immobilized individuals being particularly vulnerable. Neonates are at high risk due to their immature and skin, with prevalence rates in neonatal intensive care units reaching up to 28%. This project implements findings from a literature review and a clinical trial and investigates the effect of material and environmental factors on interface pressure and friction. Laboratory tests will assess the influ-ence of various mattress surface topographies and bedsheet materials in friction and compression testing us-ing state-of-the-art skin models.
Keywords: Healthcare materials, interface biomechanics, friction, moisture, shear forces, mattress innovation, medical de-vices, skin, sensors, support surface, textiles, skin-surface interaction, patient-centered design, translational medical research
The study measures compression and shear forces for various settings including air mattresses and their fill-ing status and textiles at the interface between the mattress and the human body (model). The interactions will be investigated for dry and wet conditions.
The tasks include preparing and conducting the lab experiments and analysing the data using sophisticated software (Matlab, Python, R). The results will then be interpreted in the context of an existing literature review and the results of a clinical study. The work will be conducted in an interdisciplinary environment and contrib-ute to an ongoing PhD thesis.
The study measures compression and shear forces for various settings including air mattresses and their fill-ing status and textiles at the interface between the mattress and the human body (model). The interactions will be investigated for dry and wet conditions. The tasks include preparing and conducting the lab experiments and analysing the data using sophisticated software (Matlab, Python, R). The results will then be interpreted in the context of an existing literature review and the results of a clinical study. The work will be conducted in an interdisciplinary environment and contrib-ute to an ongoing PhD thesis.
The study aims to investigate the complex interaction between body models of newborns at different body weights and air-filled support structures. Furthermore, the impact of various textile layers at the interface be-tween the body and the support structure will be explored in dry and moist conditions. These insights provide the foundation for setting the next steps in developing new support structures in combination with textile lay-ers for pressure ulcer prevention in newborns.
The study aims to investigate the complex interaction between body models of newborns at different body weights and air-filled support structures. Furthermore, the impact of various textile layers at the interface be-tween the body and the support structure will be explored in dry and moist conditions. These insights provide the foundation for setting the next steps in developing new support structures in combination with textile lay-ers for pressure ulcer prevention in newborns.