- A hand-held scanner used for Mars missions is being used by NHS doctors
- The device works by moisture under the skin in commonly-affected areas
- There are 500,000 reported cases each year in the UK and 1,000 related deaths
A hand-held scanner that harnesses technology developed by Nasa for missions to Mars is being used by NHS doctors to detect bed sores before they occur.
Using electronics adapted from those installed in the robotic Phoenix spacecraft, which landed on Mars in 2008, the wireless probe is able to detect painful – and potentially fatal – bed sores days before they are visible on the skin.
Also known as pressure sores or ulcers, they occur when an area of skin is placed under pressure for an extended period.
Using electronics adapted from those installed in the robotic Phoenix spacecraft, which landed on Mars in 2008
They typically affect patients who are immobile and are unable to turn themselves or move easily in bed or in a wheelchair.
There are more than 500,000 reported cases each year, and aside from the misery caused to patients and the estimated 1,000 annual deaths from related infections, treating the condition costs the NHS £2.1 billion a year.
Paralysed Superman star Christopher Reeve died from blood poisoning started by infected pressure sores.
The new scanner is unique in its ability to detect the development of bed sores up to five days before they break the skin.
The sub-epidermal moisture (SEM) scanner works by measuring changes in moisture under the skin and is placed on areas where damage is most likely to occur, such as the heels and lower back, providing an almost instantaneous reading.
Two nurses at Amaryllis Nursing Home in Nice, France treat a bedsore on the right buttock of a resident
The device emits a small electrical current through the skin surface and, depending on the amount of electrical resistance, it is able to report changes under the skin that will lead to a pressure sore developing.
It is the brainchild of Professor Dr William Kaiser, an electrical engineer who formerly worked at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Similar technology allowed the Phoenix to probe the surface of Mars to try to deduce whether there was or had been water on the Red Planet.
If increased water levels are present beneath the skin’s surface, the device indicates that an inflammatory response is taking place and allows staff to intervene and relieve pressure.
One of the first pictures captured by the Phoenix lander, which probed the surface of Mars to try to deduce whether there was or had been water
Until now, diagnosis has relied on visual inspection by nurses, which is subjective and can identify bed sores only once they are visible and when damage to the skin has already begun.
Once a bed sore has developed, it can take up to six months to heal fully.
With early detection, experts believe that more than 80 per cent of early-stage pressure sores can be prevented.
The scanner technology has had extensive trials at ten NHS hospital trusts and three community hospitals run by Virgin Healthcare.
On some wards, bed sores have been eliminated or reduced by 90 per cent.
Nurses at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Foundation Trust started used six scanners on four wards.
There have been no hospital-acquired pressure ulcers on the four wards in the trial.
A scanner costs £14,000 but each bed sore is calculated on average to cost £15,000 to treat, and the makers of the SEM claim that stopping just one bed sore pays for a device.
Specialist nurse Glenn Smith at St Mary’s Hospital on the Isle of Wight said: ‘We reduced pressure ulcers in the ward concerned to zero during our trial – an achievement that, if we rolled it out across our hospital, could save nearly £600,000 a year and release 1,420 nurse hours a year.’