Effect of Angulus on Patient-elevation Compliance

Ventilator-associated events (VAE) are a scourge of critical care settings and hospital
systems at large. There is extensive evidence that ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and
related VAEs increase mortality rates in critically ill patients by up to 50%, while
simultaneously increasing cost of care. C

Best-practice guidelines state that positioning ventilated patients at an angle between 30-45
degrees significantly reduces the potential for VAP and other VAE to develop. While the
intent of the guidelines is to govern patient elevation angle, the lack of a mechanism to
accurately measure patient elevation requires that nurses rely on the head-of-bed (HOB)
protractor - a tool which reflects the angle of the bed, not the patient - to measure
compliance. Depending upon the position and posture of the patient in the bed, a patient's
elevation angle may be significantly different from the HOB angle. Critical care teams
currently rely on built-in HOB protractors and digital inclinometers that measure the angle
of the bed not the patient.

Angulus, LLC has developed a dual-component Angulus sensor to fill this gap in critical care
technology. Angulus enables critical care practitioners to instantaneously understand a
patient's elevation, identify when the patient is outside of the desired 30-45 degree
recumbency scope, and efficiently correct the patient's orientation with immediate feedback.
Angulus supports real-time minute-to-minute data display as well as longitudinal aggregation
of data.