Bed Buddy | Devpost

Inspiration

Bed sores cause approximately 60,000 deaths each year in the U.S. alone, but we believe these are preventable injuries. The prevalence and affordability of smartphones offers the potential to make this problem and others in the health care realm a thing of the past. The idea is to create an app which will log patient activity, create a system of social accountability for providers, and serve to advocate for this vulnerable patient population.

What it does

Bed buddy uses a smartphone's accelerometer attached to a patient to monitor movement and ensure that a proper roll was performed. The app allows caregivers to monitor which patients need to be rolled at specific times. Caregivers will check in to track that they performed the procedure. Near field communication devices allow seamless integration into the existing healthcare ecosystem, without adding steps to a providers routine. Additional features notify caregivers of patient status so they can optimize their care schedule.

How we built it

We have two parallel designs that can be applied differently. One uses an iPhone and the other uses a stripped down Wii remote. We intend to apply the iPhone interface mainly in home care use to assist family members, and the stripped down version to be mass produced and compact for hospital care.

Challenges we ran into

Linking up all the different components took a lot of time. Understanding and debating what the most important goals or features should be was difficult. Guidance from mentors helped us to see the larger picture, and frame the project in terms of how and where it could be most useful.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are very proud that the end product has a simple interface and reliably tracks movement. We are also proud that we were able to make two demonstrable designs that can apply to unique situations.

What we learned

We learned that simplistic solutions are often the most impactful and that combining diverse strengths and ideas helps to address all possible flaws with a design. We gained an appreciation for what features are most useful to healthcare providers, as well as potential pitfalls which could make the system less useful. We also all further developed our coding skills.