What if you could prevent bedsores without breaking the bank?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Bedsores are tissue damage caused by lying in one position for too long. Think hospitals and nursing homes.
Current solutions use motorized air pump mattresses to relieve pressure, but are expensive.
Enter Zhidi Yang and team from UCLA. They developed a mattress composed of a foam pad with thin spring-based sheets. The springs are in a unique checkered pattern. Without motors or expensive materials, the bed manually alternates pressure for the patient.
Results? Pressure in common bedsore areas was reduced by ninety-seven percent compared to a standard foam pad!
Looks like it’s bye-bye bedsores — hello peace!
Reference: Yang, Z., Weida, J. L., Shao, S., Reedel, B., Shannon, C., Chen, J., … & Hopkins, J. B. (2025). Preventing pressure ulcers by increasing pressure: An unorthodox alternating-pressure mattress. Science Robotics, 10(102), eads6314.