New SEM scanner set to transform pressure injury prevention

BBI (Europe), a specialist in biometric-sensor based medical devices, has launched the Provizio SEM Scanner: the first hand-held, wireless pressure ulcer risk assessment device with data transfer capabilities.

Designed in coordination with healthcare professionals, the new Provizio SEM Scanner is the only SEM Scanner that acts as an adjunct to routine clinical skin assessment and provides enhanced insight and risk identification five days (on average) earlier than visual skin assessment. Boasting an intuitive user interface, the new device is easy to use, scan, read, interpret and take action based on real-time results.

Additionally, BBI says the scanner has, in preliminary laboratory testing, shown the same precision as BBI’s current SEM Scanner 200 model, which has been in clinical practice in Europe since 2014.

Martin Burns, CEO of BBI, commented: “PI/PUs are common in all healthcare settings and are an underappreciated public health issue.  Where our SEM Scanner is in use, it results in an 90% (weighted) reduction in hospital acquired PI/PUs in acute care sites.

“We believe our Provizio SEM Scanner will encourage even more adoption of this technology and allow health care professionals to successfully manage the problem.”

The intelligent technology, designed in collaboration with healthcare professionals (HCPs) and researchers, supports targeted pressure ulcer incidence reduction in challenging healthcare environments. The technology identifies Biocapacitance of soft tissues which is described as a biophysical marker.

Analysis from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) estimates that around three-quarters of UK adults know somebody who has suffered from a pressure ulcer.

Commenting on this statistic, Martin added: “PI/PUs remain a hidden problem.  People tend to assume that it is only the elderly or wheelchair users who experience a PI/PU but they are wrong. We recently spoke to a 49-year-old woman who went in for a double mastectomy following breast cancer, who suffered from two category 3 PI/PUs.”

According to BBI, the Provizio SEM Scanner offers the following key benefits:

Real-time data

The device scans and collects patient data in real-time, site-by-site and patient-by-patient. When placed in the Provizio Charging Hub, the collected data automatically transfers to the Gateway Dashboard for patient, ward and facility management purposes.  As all data is collected and stored in digital format, managing and reporting is easier and faster. HCPs are able to input patient ID information to facilitate additional data knowledge and interpretation.

Objective pressure ulcer risk alerts

The Provizio SEM Scanner is designed to rapidly and easily scan anatomically-specific areas of the body to identify increased risk of developing pressure ulcers. These objective delta readings and integrated data management help empower HCPs by earlier identification of increased pressure ulcer risk, allowing anatomically targeted interventions.

Infection control

The single-use sensor head helps to manage the burden of disinfection and infection control.

Recent data achieved using BBI’s current SEM Scanner includes:

• Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust: Year to date, the Trust is forecasting the number of STEIS reportable category 3 and 4 to be 29 percent lower than 2018/19
• Chelsea & Westminster NHS Foundation Trust: For 87 percent of patients, nurses reported that the SEM delta had changed their clinical decision making and 89 percent of patients received additional interventions on the basis of SEM delta readings

In November 2019, the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel, National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel and Pan Pacific Pressure Injury Alliance published the Prevention and Treatment of Pressure Ulcers/Injuries: Clinical Practice Guideline, which recognised the role of “localised inflammatory edema/sub-epidermal moisture (SEM)” as “one of the earliest signs of cell death in Pressure Injuries”.