A device for measuring potentially hazardous forces on medical equipment for patient transport

Transport of critically ill patients has been identified as a risky procedure. Among other factors, it exposes subjects to external forces (not limited to mechanical shocks) that can be detrimental to the physical condition of humans. Intra- or interhospital transfers are associated with a high level of risk, and emergency maneuvers may cause heavy damage to vital functions. Unfortunately, there are no tools that enable measuring the impact of external forces on critically ill patients. Consequently, there is a lack of information on physiological changes and accidents related to transfer, and the deleterious implications of moving an ill patient are mostly unknown. In this paper, we present a novel device especially designed to detect potentially harmful agents and forces acting on medical equipment for patient transport. Particularly, the proposed solution can measure the impact of inertial forces on both the subject and the appliances that are on board.