LOUISVILLE, Kentucky—Wicked Technologies, a Louisville-based health care innovation company specializing in continence care solutions for senior living, has announced the commercial launch of its newest product, the Wicked Smart Pad.
"This is the first product of its kind to address one of the most pressing challenges in caregiving with dignity, efficiency and peace-of-mind in assisted living and memory communities," the company said. "Manufactured in the United States, the product is machine-washable, reusable and sensorized to detect moisture in real-time and report it wirelessly to caregivers."
Alli Truttmann, founder and CEO of Wicked Technologies (formerly known as Wicked Sheets), launched the smart bedding company 16 years ago to address her own personal issue with night sweats.
“We’re thrilled to take this next step in our company’s future,” said Truttmann. “Our mission is to modernize incontinence care and preserve dignity for millions of residents in senior care.”
The Wicked Smart Pad was inspired after the loss of Truttmann’s own grandmother. She suffered from the failures of today’s solutions while dealing with dementia, incontinence and skin breakdown, said Truttman.
Truttmann developed the smart pad, geared for those in assisted living and memory care, to address the industry’s current solution, which requires a caregiver to manually inspect a resident every one to four hours for incontinence events.
"This process disrupts residents’ sleep cycles and can leave urine in contact with the sensitive skin of aged adults," the company said. "It’s estimated that 13 million people live with incontinence, and one in 10 will develop incontinence-related bedsores from urine. Most significant is the data analytics available through the use of the product in determining patterns of incontinence. Moisture events alert caregivers through a dashboard, only when intervention is needed. For senior living communities, the use of the product is cost and labor-saving."
The company said the Wicked Smart Pad has been validated and improved through successful pilot programs in senior living communities, fueled by National Institute on Aging (NIA) funding and is FDA-approved. The company has secured $5 million in equity funding and Small Business Innovation Research grants.