NurseAid Monitor: An Ergonomics Dashboard to Help Change Position of Bedridden Patients

Wheelchair users and patients who remain bedridden for extended periods are at risk of developing pressure ulcers or bedsores, painful and dangerous wounds that can lead to serious infections if not treated properly. Moreover, prolonged immobility also contributes to muscle atrophy, respiratory and circulatory complications, decreased bone density, and metabolic changes - reducing the patient’s autonomy and quality of life after hospital discharge, and hindering the recovery process. We propose an IoT monitoring platform that supports wheelchair users and bedridden patients by assisting nurses and caregivers in an essential routine activity: the changing of positions or turning of patients. An extended experiment was conducted with a diverse base of volunteers and the help of certified health professionals. The collected data is used by a Machine Learning model to power an Ergonomics Dashboard that helps (i) understanding of the right moment to reposition the patient, (ii) deciding on the position for the next change, (iii) inspecting if position changes are occurring according to the medical planning and (iv) probing the patient’s position between changes.