Efficacy of Smart beds by Hospital Furniture Suppliers
Imagine a world where a
hospital bed monitors the health of a person while they sleep and alert a nurse, doctor, or caregiver of any potential problems. As experienced
hospital furniture suppliers in Chennai and beyond, we’ve imagined this scenario a number of times and the latest groundbreaking research may as well turn it into reality.
The research project, funded by Canada’s Age-Well, makes use of pressure sensors connected to the bed to avoid health complications by analyzing a patient’s breathing, fluid retention, and movement. Here’s a look at how the smart bed plays a significant role in the comfort and safety of patients.
Functional Features of Smart Beds – An Apt Hospital Furniture
Inspace Healthcare Furniture is a leading
hospital furniture manufacturer located in Chennai. We provide safe and ergonomic hospital furniture that meets all the required standards. We have 33 years of success in the furniture industry that has given us the expertise to derive innovative and technologically advanced solutions for healthcare furniture. Our quality range of hospital furniture includes
stainless steel instrument trolley,
hospital overbed table,
examination couch for clinic, and more. As the future of healthcare begins with us, we ensure quality meets convenience for both the patient and staff.
One of the concerns in people who are unable to change bed positions easily is pressure ulcers. These ulcers are not only challenging to heal but also have the tendency to become infected. They are also severely painful and tend to happen in areas where a bone presses against the skin like the heel and hip.
The doctors leading the project say that the smart bed uses a mat placed under the mattress. This mat has hundreds of sensors that detect:
- How a patient moves while asleep?
- How much does the patient move during sleep?
By tracking this data, the doctors have linked the amount of movement to blood flow. They did this by comparing the movement of heels while the patient was asleep with pictures taken through a thermal camera while the patient was awake. So, any heel that doesn’t move gives a “cold” reading, meaning there is an absence of blood circulation which can cause an ulcer.
The potential of patient comfort in such a smart bed is significant. For instance, when a bed senses that a patient needs to be turned to avoid pressure ulcers, it can alert a health-care provider such as a nurse, attending, or even a family caregiver.
Role of Smart Beds in Patient Care Environment
Usage of pressure sensor technology like the one explained above has become more prevalent in the last few years. Hospitals in the western world come equipped with several such helpful accessories. One example is Tui, a table like a gadget that records patient data. Another is a low air-mattress that can adjust pressure points based on the patient’s needs.
Irrespective of what technology a smart bed uses, it is built to send patient data and statistics to nurses or attending to allow more comfort to the patient. But safety is another concern, especially when the hospital stay is lengthy. Skin integrity, patient falls, caregiver injury and pulmonary issues are some of the risks that happen with alarming regularity. It is why hospitals are now looking for furniture that either improves outcomes or lessens the risk.
The biggest concern of them all falls. By using smart beds with sensors placed under the mattress, preventing patient falls becomes easy. These sensors work on a dual front:
- They inform nurses when the patient is getting off the bed.
- They report all patient movements.
The second usage helps nurses look for patterns that lead to a fall and create a plan that aids in preventing a recurrence.
What Else Can Smart Hospital Beds Do?
The same technology that senses patient movement and stops falls and injury can be utilized for:
- Averting bed sores: the tech can keep a record of which side the patient was moved and what time, allowing nurses to rotate the person accordingly.
- Avoid wire detachment: since sensors under the mattress are a hands-free solution, there is no risk of wires or connectors that lead to alarms becoming detached during patient movement.
- Burn-victims: since nothing can be attached to the skin of burn victims, smart bed sensors are a nifty solution for them.
The usage of smart beds is not limited to this. Slowly their technology is becoming patient-specific. For instance, companies are now creating beds for behavioral health patients that come fitted with exceptional safety features not just for the patient but also for the nurse. They have a lower height and permanently attached safety fixtures. Another type of safety bed is one that creates microclimates in the mattress. Thus, allowing to adjust bed temperature to suit the patient.
All in all, smart beds offer better comfort, care, and safety. Moreover, they provide non-invasive solutions and help preserve the dignity of the patient. Given that hospital beds are where patients spend most of their time, these features are invaluable.
In a gist, it is high time you invest in smart beds through any of the hospital furniture suppliers in Chennai and keep your patients safer and improve patient care!
