By LIZ NEPORENT Oct 16, 2012 Scientists have designed electric underpants that shock the bottom to help prevent bedsores for people who are immobilized. When a patient is stuck in the same position for too long, the skin compresses and blood circulation shuts down, leading to the formation of open wounds. Bedsores range from mild stage 1 lesions to life threatening, stage 4 ulcers that break the skin and eat through the muscle all the way down to the bone. University of Calgary doctors tested underwear by placing two pads of electrodes on each cheek of 37 patients with spinal cord injury, then zapping them with a low current of stimulus for ten seconds every 10 minutes for 12 hours a day. The findings, presented at the Neuroscience 2012 conference in New Orleans this month, showed that none of the patients treated developed a sore during the month-long trial. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/smart-pants-electrical-underwear-helps-prevent-bed-sores/story?id=17491646
