Sara Bergstrand

Had her Licentiate dissertation in 2009 at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, with the thesis Tissue blood flow responses to external pressure using LDF and PPG. Testing a system developed for pressur ulcer research.

Research

Sara Bergstrand is a member of a research group focusing on the aetiology and prevention of pressure ulcers and development of a technical system for evaluation of pressure reducing mattresses.

Pressure ulcers are a problem for immobile individuals, and having pressure ulcers impact and restrict the daily and are often associated with pain. Pressure ulcers occur frequently and cause high costs for the health care system. The prevention of pressure ulcers by focusing on different mattresses and overlays aimed to reduce the interface pressure or the pressure exposure of the tissue. The problem is the poor evaluation of this type of equipment. There are important factors regarding pressure ulcer development, pressure, shear, temperature and humidity. People are affected by external pressure in different ways and therefore it is preferable to measure the effect of pressure as a complement to the pressure measurement and thus we consider blood flow measurements to be a suitable method. The laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) and photoplethysmography (PPG) techniques reflect the blood flow at different levels and give improved possibilities to expand the knowledge of the field of pressure ulcer formation.

Sara Bergstrand's publications in DiVA (publication database)