New smart bedding technology monitors residents' wellbeing in healthcare settings

Aussie medtech company Sleeptite and RMIT University researchers have secured a US patent for smart bedding technology designed to monitor residents' wellbeing in healthcare settings and identify falls risk so carers can intervene. 

A recent peer-reviewed study by RMIT and Sleeptite shows the technology can be manufactured using scalable production techniques while maintaining performance and durability. 

Now, Sleeptite have unveiled the technology at The MedTech Conference – a high profile gathering of medical technology industry leaders held in Boston – as part of an Australian trade delegation led by AUScelerate. 

An Aussie smart bedding solution 

The patented FlexiSense technology, which Sleeptite is developing for use with its REMi in-bed monitoring system, measures bed position and posture via soft, flexible electronics in mattress protectors. 

It is designed to help care staff respond sooner to the risk of falls, with detection of pressure sore risk in development. 

The technology is the result of nearly a decade of collaboration led by Sleeptite, working with RMIT and manufacturing partner Sleepeezee Bedding Australia. 

Sleeptite Founder and CEO Cameron van den Dungen said the technology offered a cost-effective, scalable way to improve the quality of care throughout the night, whether in a care facility or in a person's own home. 

Care workers can't be in every room, every minute of the night. This technology gives them an extra set of eyes, without putting a camera in the room. 

It helps carers spot risks earlier, so they can step in before a fall happens, and it gives the people in their care, and their families, real peace of mind." 

Cameron van den Dungen, Sleeptite Founder and CEO 

The US patent granted this month covers the design of the FlexiSense sensor and manufacturing method. It follows an Australian provisional application lodged in 2020 and is the first to be granted from applications filed in ten jurisdictions worldwide. 

Van den Dungen said taking an idea from a provisional patent application to a granted US patent had taken years of persistence. 

"Not every small Australian deep tech company makes it to the end of that road," he said. 

"The US Patent and Trademark Office doesn't grant patents on good intentions. It grants them on genuine novelty." 

Scalable technology 

Unlike camera-based monitoring systems or wearable devices, FlexiSense is built directly into mattress protectors, allowing residents to be monitored non-invasively without changing their daily routines. 

The sensors are fabricated using silver and carbon ink on flexible polyurethane sheets, which detect changes in applied force through the material's piezoresistive qualities. 

They were designed by multi-award-winning electronics engineer and innovator Distinguished Professor Madhu Bhaskaran and team at RMIT, with their smart integration into bedding systems outlined in the team's joint study. 

Bhaskaran, who is also Director of RMIT's Discovery to Device MedTech Prototyping Facility, said their focus on affordability from the outset was reflected not only in the exceptional compatibility of the product, but also in its fabrication process. 

"The sensors can be used across a wide range of mattress types, making the technology easier and more affordable to adopt," she said. 

"Through rigorous testing under the rollator machine, our ready-to-manufacture sensors have demonstrated durability, sensitivity, and robustness, accurately detecting body motion with minimal power consumption." 

Bhaskaran said the integration into a wireless electronic module also enables continuous data monitoring and logging in the cloud. 

"It is incredibly exciting to see the sensor we developed leaping out from our lab and into the world, to improve the care for some of our most vulnerable people," she said. 

"Our patent covers how the sensors are made, not just what they do," Van den Dungen said. 

"That means we can build our first production line here in Melbourne, then replicate small-batch manufacturing close to customers in markets like the United States, with the IP and the know-how anchored in Australia." 

A long-term partnership 

The collaboration began eight years ago with an Australian Government Cooperative Research Centre Project, bringing together experts in sensing technology, data analytics, healthcare and bedding manufacturing. 

The work rapidly progressed beyond the lab and into a field trial at an aged care home, where six residents were monitored over more than 250 nights, generating more than 6,100 bed-hours of monitoring data. 

The collaboration has also broadened into further joint projects, with Sleeptite and RMIT co-developing new applications using the Discovery to Device facility. 

RMIT Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation Distinguished Professor Calum Drummond AO said the collaboration was an example of RMIT's commitment to working with industry to achieve impact. 

"This project is focused on making a real difference in aged care via cutting-edge electronics invented right here at RMIT, and shows what long-term partnerships can achieve," he said. 

The RMIT-Sleeptite partnership has won multiple awards, including Best Industry Collaboration at the 2021 Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia Awards, Digital Health & Health Tech Innovation of the Year at the 2022 InnovationAus Awards for Excellence, and two 2024 Australian Good Design Awards for the REMi smart bedding system.