Mahasiswa UGM Buat Alat Untuk Membantu Toiletting Pasien Bedrest
Mahasiswa UGM Buat Alat Untuk Membantu Toiletting Pasien Bedrest
Increasing age will lead to a decrease in the functions of the human body. One of them is a decrease in muscle function and body balance. This has caused many elderly people have to have a bed rest. Bed rest itself is a medical treatment that requires patient to lay down in bed in the long term.
In addition to aging, some other causes for a person to be bedridden are bone fractures, stroke, pregnancy with high risk of bleeding, or heart disease.
Patients on bed rest will have difficulty in urination and defecation (toileting). They need to use diapers, catheters, or a bedpan.
"The use of these tools have some risks such as infections, diaper rash, and irritation. For some people the use of these tools also felt uncomfortable," said Mia Purnama, student of the Faculty of Medicine UGM, on Thursday (2/6) at UGM.
Seeing this condition, along with fellow Engineering students: Agitta Tri Putra, Fatwa Januarya, Yudan Rudi, and Farhan Tandia, Mia was motivated to address the problem. All five were working to create a tool that can help patients in doing toileting needs.
Mia explains the tool is designed as a bed and a tool is installed that can be used for toileting. When a patient has a desire to defecate or urinate, the patient can open and close the bedpan tool automatically via a button next to the patient. While for cleaning the genitals area, they can do so by activating the pump using an arm sensor. Water hose will automatically perform cleaning on the genitals.
"In addition, the tool makes bedridden patients more independent," she explained.
This tool can be applied in the hospital as well as at home for patients undergoing home treatment.