ADOPTED PROJECT: Happier Feet
ADOPTED PROJECT: Happier Feet
Disrupting the vicious cycle of healthcare decline in Diabetic Foot Ulceration through active prevention: The future of self-managed care
Chief Investigator: Dr Andrew Weightman – University of Manchester
Project Team Members: Dr Katherine Bradbury – University of Southampton, Professor Helen Dawes – University of Exeter, Mr Andrew Eccles – University of Strathclyde, Dr Safak Dogan – Loughborough University, Dr Glen Cooper – University of Manchester, Professor Frank Bowling – University of Manchester, Dr Xiyu Shi, Loughborough University, Professor Ahmeet Kondoz– Loughborough University
Organisations Involved: Diabetes UK
Background:
There is a significant unmet clinical need for an adaptable, acceptable and adoptable technology to identify and prevent diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) formation, to enable self-management and timely clinical intervention to improve outcomes and reduce the economic burden of healthcare provision.
Our primary purpose is to develop and implement an adaptable, acceptable, and cost- effective smart sensing insole technology which can detect when a DFU is likely to occur and can adapt plantar tissue loading to prevent formation, thus enabling self-management.
This project proposes to build and expand on current smart insole technologies for the detection of DFUs, utilising a sensor fusion approach for their identification.
A smart insole with integrated pressure (normal, shear), temperature, gait (IMU) and mechanomyography (acoustic) sensors will identify early indicators of ulceration and when movement is appropriate/inappropriate. The smart insole will respond to these inputs and adjust the foot (and gait), through an array of artificial muscles, to support better (safe/ comfortable) movement. This project aims to co-develop this new smart sensing insole with people living with diabetic foot ulcers.
We hope to establish:
What patients think of the idea of a smart sensing insole for early detection of DFUs which includes the provision to adjust the foot to reduce pressure on areas of likely ulceration.
A prototype insole and optimised this with patient feedback.
Early safety testing of this device.
Security protocols to enable secure storage and sharing of data from this insole (e.g., between patient and clinicians).