An inflatable device created to help doctors and nurses safely move critically ill patients is set to enter clinical trials at the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust (the RUH).
Designed by engineers at the University of Bath in collaboration with doctors at the RUH, the Inflatable Prone Repositioning Device (IPRD), known as the ’BathMat’, is a flat balloon-like cushion made to assist healthcare staff move the most critically ill patients on the intensive care unit. After receiving Research Capability funding from the RUH, as well as funding from the University’s Impact Acceleration Account, the project has now received £357,000 from the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) to determine the effectiveness of the device and to explore its commercial potential.
Critically ill patients on the intensive care unit who are sedated and on a ventilator with severe lung injury, can benefit from being placed on their front. This can increase the oxygen levels in their blood and reduces their risk of death by up to 17%.
A seven-person task, now possible by two
To avoid painful bed sores and injuries to other parts of the body, national guidelines require these patients to be repositioned every two to four hours. This is a complicated, manual task that requires up to seven staff to lift and carefully reposition the patient’s arms and head. Great care must be taken not to displace the tubes and drips which are keeping the patient alive. Currently, this is done using sliding sheets or hoists, with repositioning accounting for over half a million staff hours per year in the NHS.
The researchers behind the device say they hope it will make it possible for just two staff to complete the process, and cut the time needed from over half an hour per position adjustment to less than 10 minutes. Whilst substantially improving the safety of the procedure for patients, and releasing staff to perform other care duties, it also has the potential to reduce the risk of manual handling injuries for staff.
Dr Alexander Lunt, a Senior Lecturer in the Department for Mechanical Engineering and Co-director of the Centre for Integrated Materials, Processes & Structures (IMPS), is the University of Bath lead. He says: “Our goal is that the device will be proven to maintain or improve safety standards and enhance patient outcomes in the most unwell patients. We aim to achieve this while saving time and reducing the number of clinicians required needed to reposition prone patients.”
16,500 patients a year
Currently, 16,500 patients are cared for in this way in the NHS each year. A device such as the IPRD could reduce the likelihood of pressure sores and organ injury, potentially al