Pressure relief characteristics of a new foam overlay: a preliminary performance evaluation.

To evaluate a newly designed foam mattress to be used by patients who are susceptible to pressure ulcers, interface pressures that are produced between body and mattress were measured with the Mini-Texas interface pressure evaluator (Tee-Kay Applied Technology, Inc., Stafford, Texas). Fifteen subjects with builds that ranged from thin to large were measured at four body locations--the scapular area, sacral area, trochanter, and heel. The interface pressure measurements were found to increase with body size in the sacral and heel areas. The pressures under the sacral, scapular, and heel areas remained within a narrow range for a given body type.