COOL TOOLS
Smart underwear
Chances are, you’re sitting down right now. Pay attention to how many times you adjust your position while reading this article: you’ll probably be surprised by just how much you fidget. That’s a good thing. Unfortunately, people who are wheelchair-bound or bedridden cannot fidget; and this immobility can cause pressure ulcers—sores that develop if blood flow to deep muscle tissue is cut off during long periods of sitting or lying in one place. The tissue dies, forming an open wound that can also become infected, extremely painful, and life-threatening.
AHFMR Senior Scholar Dr. Vivian Mushahwar’s team at the University of Alberta is developing an innovative way to prevent these sores from forming. Their “smart underwear” uses brief, periodic jolts of electricity to stimulate the muscles of the buttocks. The resulting muscle contractions distribute pressure around bones, increase blood flow and bring oxygen into tissues—possibly more effectively than having a nurse turn the patient. The team has already developed sensors to monitor pressure and indicate when electrical stimulation is needed, as well as electrodes to deliver the electrical stimulation. Now they are turning their attention to designing a garment that can put this technology to work.
The team is working closely with health professionals and patients at Edmonton’s Allen Gray Continuing Care Centre, the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, Home, and Continuing Care Centre in Edmonton, and the intensive-care unit at Calgary’s Foothills Hospital. “Although the technology will be the same, the actual garment will have to be different to meet the needs of various types of users,” says Dr. Mushahwar. “What will work for a person in a wheelchair will likely not be suitable for an individual who stays in bed all day, or a patient in the ICU. This is what we’re sorting out now.”