Evaluation of the Pressure Applied to a Patient’s Skin During Patient Transfer

In hospitals and care facilities, immobile patients are typically moved using methods such as the sling lift. This method is considered to be an acceptable risk for both the patient and health care workers involved in the transfer. However, it is known that the sling method increases the pressure on a patent's skin due to a concentration of force, especially around the thigh and posterior regions, which can lead to contusions and other skin injuries. To solve this problem, Able Innovations Inc. is creating an alternative transfer technology that has the potential to reduce the pressure on the patient. In this work, we will assess the forces that are applied to the patient's body by both the traditional sling transfer method and the new system. This work will evaluate a novel sensor used to measure the shear and normal force applied to the skin. A comparison of the forces applied to simulated skin (leather) and low friction tin-foil showed no difference indicating minimal shear forces are applied by system. Based on the results gathered, it was determined that the sensor used was able to reproduce previously reported results for the normal forces associated with sling lifts. It was found that the normal force concentration for the sling lift was approximately 2. 67KPa, whereas the new system only showed a normal force concentration of 700Pa. The latter is a 16% increase over the natural force due to normal body weight, whereas the comparable sling increase is over 300%.