Smart bedding targets falls risk in aged care
RMIT University researchers and Melbourne-based medtech company Sleeptite have collaborated on a recent study that suggests fabric-embedded pressure sensors can be manufactured using scalable production techniques while maintaining performance and durability — the technology is designed to monitor residents’ wellbeing in healthcare settings and identify falls risk so carers can intervene.
The FlexiSense technology, which Sleeptite is developing for use in its REMi in-bed monitoring system, measures bed position and posture via soft, flexible electronics in mattress protectors and is designed to help care staff respond sooner to the risk of falls, with detection of pressure sore risk in development. In October 2026, a US patent was granted, following almost a decade of collaboration led by Sleeptite, working with RMIT and manufacturing partner Sleepeezee Bedding Australia.
“Care workers can’t be in every room, every minute of the night. This technology gives them an extra set of eyes, without putting a camera in the room,” Sleeptite founder and CEO Cameron van den Dungen said. “It helps carers spot risks earlier, so they can step in before a fall happens, and it gives the people in their care, and their families, real peace of mind.”
Designed to allow residents to be monitored non-invasively without changing their daily routines, and unlike camera-based monitoring systems or wearable devices, FlexiSense is built directly into mattress protectors. Detecting changes in applied force through the material’s piezoresistive qualities, the sensors are fabricated using silver and carbon ink on flexible polyurethane sheets.
“The sensors can be used across a wide range of mattress types, making the technology easier and more affordable to adopt,” said sensors designer Distinguished Professor Madhu Bhaskaran from RMIT University. “Through rigorous testing under the rollator machine, our ready-to-manufacture sensors have demonstrated durability, sensitivity and robustness, accurately detecting body motion with minimal power consumption.”
A paper on the sensors was published open access in Flexible and Printed Electronics and you can read it at doi.org/10.1088/2058-8585/ae8e8c.
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