LOS ANGELES. (Ivanhoe Newswire) – Actor Christopher Reeve died of complications from a bedsore, or pressure ulcer, in 2004. Hundreds of thousands of people have died similar deaths since then. Now a sub-epidermal moisture, or SEM scanner that can detect bedsores before they’re visible is in trials here in the U.S. and some of its technology came from the Mars rover.
Laurie Rappl has been in a wheelchair since breaking her back 36 years ago.
“In those 36 years, I’ve had four deep pressure ulcers. Deep, meaning they went all the way through the skin, and through the muscle down to the bone,” described Rappl.
Rappl took a year in bed to recover, each time. Bedsores form when pressure on soft tissue blocks blood flow. They’re hard to detect because they start on the inside of the body.
Martin Burns, the CEO of Bruin Biometrics in Los Angeles, California, explained, “The damage occurring underneath the skin surface, you can’t see it, but this can.”
Bruin Biometrics’ SEM scanner measures increases in moisture under the skin, a warning sign of inflammation and potentially, pressure ulcers.
“When you take a series of readings over the site that’s at risk for developing an ulcer, we can give you a calculation that says that patient has tissue that’s compromised,” detailed Burns.
Wound care specialist at Skilled Wound Care, Henry Okonkwo is running a trial of the scanner. He gets readings in a second. Anything under point-six is fine.
Okonkwo told Ivanhoe, “It’s not a subjective assessment; it’s actually an objective assessment. That makes a huge difference in your ability to decide to make good clinical decisions on how you should intervene.”
The scanner can detect cases four to ten days before ulcers appear.
Rappl said, “A device that could tell me that what I was doing was working or that what I was doing wasn't working and you better jump on it right now is a game changer.”
The SEM scanner is in use in the UK, Portugal, Spain and Canada. It’s dropped incidents of bedsores from five percent to zero in some hospitals, saving tens of thousands of dollars. This could be significant in the U.S., where it can cost up to $152,000 to treat one patient with bedsores a year. Bruin Biometrics expects to file with the FDA early this year, making the scanners available by year end.
Contributors to this news report include: Cyndy McGrath, Supervising Producer; Wendy Chioji, Field Producer; Milvionne Chery, Assistant Producer; Roque Correa, Editor; Rusty Reed, Videographer.