Hospitals to Test Bed Sensors – a “Smart Hospital Bed”

This looks to be some very interesting technology. All a patient does is just lay on the bed and the sensors do the rest. If the heart or respiratory rates stray outside of the normal ranges, an alert is sent. It could also alert staff to a patient trying to get out of bed who perhaps shouldn’t be or should be monitored by a staff member. It will also sound an alert to the patient as well. The mattress will store up to 12 hours of information. The army is looking at the bed as well to see if would have some functionality with combat hospitals.

It certainly appears to be a big help to the nursing staff and other hospital staff with keeping on top of what is happening with the patient at all times and could serve to help avoid long wait times for the patient in case of an emergency. BD

Private and government hospitals will test the effectiveness of sensor technology that can be used on hospital beds to give early warning if a patient is in distress. One or two hospitals affiliated with a large, unidentified delivery system in Pennsylvania, along with a small number of Veterans Administration and Army facilities, will implement the LifeBed Patient Vigilance System from Hoana Medical Inc., Honolulu.