Colleagues,

We are thrilled to announce the winning project for the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Pediatric Technology Center (PTC) at Georgia Tech’s Pillar 3 Technology and Devices: the Pressure Injury Prevention System (PIPS) 2.0. Funding for this project was awarded by the Imlay Innovation Fund. 

PIPS 2.0 is an innovative, easy-to-use solution to prevent pressure injuries in young children (age 12 weeks to 20 months). It consists of fabric-based pressure and moisture sensor networks integrated into a fitted sheet that covers the mattress. The end-to-end system continuously and unobtrusively monitors both pressure and moisture at the child's contact points with the mattress. This data is harnessed to trigger an evidence-based alert to the caregiver along with the targeted intervention needed to relieve the pressure and moisture at the identified contact points to prevent a pressure injury. 

Pressure injuries pose real consequences for patients, impacting more than 2.5 million people in the U.S. per year, and prevention relies on vigilance. PIPS 2.0 was selected because Children’s physicians identified pressure injury prevention as a priority and this project as one that could impact pediatric healthcare at this moment and dramatically improve health outcomes, safety and quality in pediatric patients. 

Some of you may know this project as the prototype was developed and tested in 2019 at Egleston Hospital. At that time, it was known as PUPS for Pressure Ulcer Prevention System, but nomenclature in the field has changed from pressure ulcer to pressure injury. Since then, the team has continued extensive work to enhance the technology. In addition to PIPS 2.0, this funding will allow for additional prototype refinements, e.g., PIPS 2.0 D to prevent device-related pressure injuries, and testing, including a clinical pilot followed by a large-scale implementation in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Arthur M. Blank Hospital. 

Sundaresan Jayaraman, PhD, and Sungmee Park, PhD, MFA, are leading the project from the engineering, design and product development perspective, and Srikant Iyer, MD, MPH, Jana Stockwell, MD, and Matthew Paden, MD, are providing medical and clinical leadership.  

The Children’s PTC at Georgia Tech brings clinical experts from Children’s together with Georgia Tech scientists and engineers to develop technological solutions to problems in the health and care of children. Children’s PTC provides extraordinary opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration in pediatrics, creating breakthrough discoveries that often can only be found at the intersection of multiple disciplines. These collaborations also allow us to bring discoveries to the clinic and the bedside, thereby enhancing the lives of children and young adults. The mission of the PTC is to establish the world’s leading program in the development of technological solutions for children’s health, focused on three strategic areas that will have a lasting impact on Georgia’s kids and beyond. 

Congratulations to the project team for earning funding for PIPS 2.0—a device that could certainly have a lasting, positive impact on young children in Georgia, across the country and around the world. We also express gratitude to the Imlay Innovation Fund for supporting this important work. 

Sincerely,
  

Stanislav Emelianov, PhD

Co-Director, Children's Pediatric Technology Center at Georgia Tech 

Wilbur Lam, MD, PhD
Co-Director, Children's Pediatric Technology Center at Georgia Tech