Kaunas puts bedsores to rest

Two graduates from Kaunas University of Technology have launched Alovita, a new company that tackles bedsores and associated impaired health conditions. The startup has developed a care bed with a tilting function which assists patients in changing their position.

Andrius Darulis and Vaidas Talačka, who hope to introduce a prototype in autumn 2014, launched Alovita when they realised that similar solutions are too expensive and too complex for home users. The company has attracted 70,000 litas ($27,500) in funding from the Lithuanian Agency for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Bedsores are a serious health risk, with about 300 people dying from associated complications in the US each day. In Lithuania, they are a leading cause of death in care homes. The bedsores particularly affect disabled and seriously sick people, who may not be able to change their position in their sleep as much as required and nurses may not be able to provide the required amount of care. A healthy person twists and turns about 40 to 60 times a night.

Not changing position often enough causes local anaemia, which develops when blood flow into the pressured body part is obstructed. The affected tissue receives less nutrients and oxygen, struggling to discard dispensable substances. If the condition persists, skin and deeper tissue die because of lack of oxygen.

Darulis said: “First we got funding form the Innocheque programme. We used it for the study of possibilities which we undertook together with the researchers of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Design. We are extremely grateful to the Kaunas University of Technology Startup Space which provided the office space and all the necessary information, and assisted us while developing the product and founding the company.”