Prev Biotech Inc. has developed an innovative product for preventing pressure ulcers (also know as bedsores) called Smart-e-Pants™ based on their company’s intermittent electrical stimulation (IES) platform technology.  Pressure ulcers are an enormous health care burden that is prevalent throughout the healthcare system, from intensive care to continuing and home care.  US hospitals spend over $11 billion/yr in non-reimbursable costs for the treatment of pressure ulcers.  IES delivers a minute electrical stimulation to cause muscle contractions and mimic ‘fidgeting’, a natural subconscious response to prevent pressure ulcers.  Those with mobility or sensation impairment may lack the ability to fidget and so are at risk of developing a pressure ulcer. The Smart-e-Pants product is the first of its kind to address pressure ulcers by restoring fidgeting.  The system is comprised of 3 components: i) a stimulator , ii) electrodes , and iii) an undergarment.

Smart-e-Pant offers a quantum leap in the approach to this problem:

• The first significant advancement in pressure ulcer prevention technology in over half a century.
• The only pressure ulcer technology to address the physiological causes of pressure ulcers.
•  An easy to adopted technology – non-disruptive to healthcare workflow.
• Cost effective intervention.

The Smart-e-Pant product has been co-developed and tested with patients and health care practitioners at centres across the province including the Alen Gray Continuing Care Centre, the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, and the Foothills Medical Centre.