Medical Devices and Vulnerable Skin: Intelligent sensing to promote self-management

Following the success of the EPSRC-NIHR HTC Partnership Award: Medical Devices and Vulnerable Skin Network: Optimising safety in design, the Network was awarded an additional 'PLUS' Award: Medical Devices and Vulnerable SkinPLUS - Intelligent sensing to promote self-management.

Modern medicine has been transformed in recent decades, with advances leading to increased life expectancy and a significant number of individuals living with long term health conditions. This has, in part, been due to the development of advanced medical devices which provide a range of interventions, including respiratory support and mobility aids. Many of these devices have to interface with the body, which creates a mechanical force against the underlying skin and soft tissues.

MDVSNplus integrates research expertise and motivates clinicians and industrialists to provide intelligent strategies to maintain medical device longevity and patient comfort in a range of clinical settings and contributes to clinical guidelines surrounding the application of medical devices and, where necessary, new standards of medical device testing.

Goals
- bring together leaders in the fields of sensing, imaging and computer simulation to provide the necessary expertise to evaluate the impact of new and existing medical devices which attach to vulnerable skin
- develop a series of intelligent mechanisms which can monitor the functionality and safety of devices over time.
- target methods of detecting when a device is causing harm to vulnerable skin and create an early warning system for patients and carers
- work closely with colleagues based in the healthcare sector, who specialise in medical devices and wound prevention, to bridge the gap between research findings and the application into clinical practice