Products used for Prevention of Medical Device-Related Pressure Ulcers Strikingly vary in their Stiffness Properties

Medical device-related pressure ulcers (MDRPUs) result from the use of devices designed and applied for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. The resultant pressure ulcer generally conforms to the pattern or shape of the applied device. Here, we conducted standard uniaxial unconfined compressive tests on different medical products used in practice for prevention of medical device-related pressure ulcers (MDRPUs) in order to obtain their stiffness properties. The elastic moduli of these products ranged over at least 3 orders of magnitude, which points to the lack of: (i) Guidelines of engineering design with respect to patient safety. (ii) Standard engineering practice for design of medical devices that contact the skin. The importance of this study is in revealing a wide range of stiffness properties of medical products used for prevention of MDRPUs. This outcome highlights the need for standardization in this field in order to improve prevention of MDRPUs.