Radnor, Pa.-based Main Line Health’s COO has earned a patent for her invention designed to prevent hospital falls, ABC 6 reported Sept. 2.
Barbara Wadsworth, DNP, RN, has been a nurse for nearly 40 years and wanted to help patients prevent falls, especially in the bathroom where they are at higher risk.
“I never thought of myself as an inventor,” Dr. Wadsworth told ABC.
Her device was created in partnership with engineers at the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research in Penn Wynne, Pa. It sits in front of a patient at the toilet. Sensors detect when someone is standing up and are calibrated to recognize if they fall forward. If so, airbags deploy to cushion their fall and prevent injury. After nearly two years, the device received a patent.
She is one of several nurses at the system that have obtained patents for medical devices or are pursuing patents.
