Application of design-thinking to the prevention and management of lower limb pressure ulcers.

Background
Recent research into the biomechanics of pressure ulcer formation includes emerging themes around load tolerance, capillary closing pressures and tissue metabolic demand. These are widely recognised as useful parameters to measure the effectiveness of heel pressure ulcer prevention and management devices (Gefen et al. 2021). However, what is yet to be considered is how limited current devices are at addressing the individual risk factors of the diverse range of patients within this population who are currently managed with generic off-the-shelf devices.

Aim
To explore how devices designed to prevent and manage pressure ulcers on the lower limb can be optimised for individual patient characteristics.

Methods
This initial research involves undertaking a review of the literature to clarify current practice and examine the underlying theory of lower limb pressure ulcer prevention and management. Current pressure ulcer prevention products will be used for comparison.

Results
The findings from will be analysed and synthesised to inform the design of an innovative heel pressure ulcer prevention and management device.

Discussion
The evidence-based device design parameters identified in the literature review will then be tested in the next phase of the research. A clinical research pilot study will be undertaken utilising a factorial design approach which allows for the simultaneous and efficient screening of multiple intervention components in a timely manner (Baker et al. 2017).

Conclusion
A personalised medicine approach offers an exciting opportunity to understand the benefits of its application to lower limb pressure ulcer prevention and management devices.