Smart Fabric Technology Aims to Prevent Pressure Injuries in Hospital Care

Pressure injuries (PIs), previously known as pressure ulcers, are painful skin and soft-tissue wounds that develop when a person remains in one position for too long. They can develop within days—or even hours—in immobilized or device-dependent patients, are difficult to treat once established, and can progress to infection or death. Manual repositioning remains the main preventive measure, but it is labor-intensive and often inconsistently timed during staffing shortages.

To help address this challenge, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA, USA) have developed a flexible sensor fabric that detects conditions preceding tissue breakdown. The technology aims to guide timely repositioning and reduce dependence on manual turning alone.

The flexible, sensor-filled fabric functions like a bedsheet placed beneath the patient and unobtrusively collects pressure and moisture data during bed rest or wheelchair use. The system analyzes when pressure remains unchanged and the amount of moisture at the skin-support surface interface to identify when a patient should be repositioned. An application connected to the device alerts clinicians, and future integration into electronic medical records is planned to streamline documentation and response.

The technology is being piloted on four cribs in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Arthur M. Blank Hospital, with expansion to 50 beds planned. Earlier proof-of-concept testing occurred at Children’s in 2019, followed by enhancements for individuals using wheelchairs with spinal cord injuries. The current iteration is flexible, washable, and deploys with a single cable, replacing earlier versions that required dozens of connections, to simplify bedside implementation.

Pressure injuries affect 2.5 million patients annually in the United States and are associated with 60,000 deaths. Prevention today relies on turning bedridden or critically ill patients every few hours, yet staffing constraints mean that a missed turn can lead to complications. The annual cost of care approaches $27 billion, underscoring the need for automated monitoring that adapts to patient weight and condition.

The researchers are collaborating with clinicians at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to refine the system for pediatric intensive care use and are working with Georgia Tech’s Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership to navigate regulatory requirements. The goal is broad deployment across healthcare settings to standardize monitoring and support timely repositioning.

“I call this technology a paradigm shift. We’re using a fabric that acts like a bedsheet under the patient. It collects pressure and moisture data unobtrusively—whether you’re lying in bed or sitting in a wheelchair. From this, we can predict when a PI is likely to occur and, more importantly, understand how long it takes to form,” said Sundaresan Jayaraman, professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

“Penicillin revolutionized how we treat infections, and we want our technology to be similarly revolutionary. Just like penicillin made certain infections obsolete, we hope our sensors can make PIs a preventable relic of the past. That’s why we believe commercialization is very, very critical,” said Professor Jayaraman.

Related Links
Georgia Tech
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta