The effects of different types of automated inclining bed and tilt angle on body-pressure redistribution.

The damage caused by pressure in bedridden hospitalized patients is attributable to the body tissues becoming compressed against bony prominences, which results in poor capillary perfusion. Automated inclining beds were developed in this study to assist patients in repositioning, with the aim of quantifying the effects of 3 types of bed (bed 1, 1-axis tilting; bed 2, 1-axis and 2-segment tilting; and bed 3, 2-axis and 3-segment tilting) and 3 tilt angles (10, 15, and 20 degrees upward from the horizontal) on body-pressure redistribution. Twenty healthy subjects (14 men and 6 women) aged 21 to 26 years were recruited from the Yonsei University student population (mean [SD]: height, 164.0 cm [5.5 cm]; weight, 58.7 kg [7.3 kg]). A body-pressure measurement system was used to analyze the pressure distributions of the human body for the different bed types and tilt angles. The results showed that pressure reduction was significantly greater for bed 2 than for beds 1 and 3, and for tilt angles of 15 and 20 degrees upward. The highest pressure reduction was found for bed 2, with a tilt angle of 20 degrees upward from the horizontal.