Patent ID: 7090647

Claim:
A pressure ulcer factor evaluation apparatus for evaluating factors that may cause pressure ulcer on a patient's back and/or buttock, said pressure ulcer factor evaluation apparatus comprising: a sensor section that can intervene between the patient's body and a bed, having an air-filled surface pressure measuring space whose pressure can be varied by the surface pressure exerted by the patient's body when said sensor section is inserted between said body and bed, an air tube hermetically communicating with said surface pressure measuring space, a shearing force measuring space accommodating at least one strain gauge for measuring the shearing force acting on the patient's skin in the tangential direction of the skin, a signal line connected to said strain gauge for transmitting the signal generated by said strain gauge out of said shearing force measuring space; and a controller-display unit having a pressure sensor communicating with said surface pressure measuring space via said air tube for detecting the surface pressure transmitted from said surface pressure measuring space, and a display adapted to process the data received from said strain gauge and pressure sensor to obtain and display bodily force information indicative of said surface pressure and shearing force information indicative of said shearing force.