Pressure ulcers or ‘bedsores’ are a leading cause of injury for patients in hospitalized and long-term care facilities, with an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 individuals suffering pressure ulceration in Canada in any given year. With funding from Alberta Innovates, W21C conducted an independent Randomized Controlled Trial of nearly 700 patients to see if access to pressure imaging technology is effective in reducing continuous pressure and the incidence of pressure ulcers.

The pressure imaging technology used in the study is XSENSOR® Technology Corporation’s ForeSite PT™ System. W21C assisted in the development of the system, which is a thin flexible mattress overlay designed to monitor, record and analyze patient interface pressure on a hospital bed. W21C conducted focus groups, heuristic evaluations, usability testing and clinical testing to provide feedback from potential end users on different device prototypes.