Hospitals can now use the technology from NASA Mars mission to eliminate bedsores. Several hospitals participated in a large-scale bedsore reduction program which utilizes the technology from NASA's Mars lander. The results reveal that more than half of the participating hospitals were able to perfectly prevent the new occurrence of bedsores.

Bedsores, also known as pressure ulcers, is a chronic condition which affects immobile patients. It kills more people than any form of cancer except for lung cancer annually. In the UK alone, about 500,000 cases of bedsores are recorded every year. This also claimed the life of Superman actor Christopher Reeve.

One major problem which hospitals need to address in treating pressure ulcers is detection. Normally, doctors can only detect bedsores when they reach the surface of the skin and has done irreversible damage. However, with the newly developed SEM scanners, bedsores can now be detected earlier

A press release provided by Bruin Biometrics LLC reveals the SEM scanner adapts the technology used in NASA Mars mission. The wireless handheld device utilizes the seismology technology used by the Mars rover in investigating beneath the planet's surface to detect bedsores up to 10 days ahead before they are seen on the skin.

The idea of the SEM Scanner was first conceived by a wound care expert and professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, Barbara Bates-Jensen. The technology was tested on more than 1,200 patients in 13 hospitals and more than half were able to prevent new cases of bedsores completely.

"We've borrowed NASA's concept of 'Seeing the Unseen' to develop the first clinically-proven method for detecting unseen bedsores and alerting healthcare practitioners in real time when they begin to form under the skin," Bruin Biometrics VP of Product Rachael Lester said, cited Endgadget. She added that using the SEM scanner developed from NASA Mars mission technology will help hospitals treat bedsores before they do serious damage.