Portable Device to Predict Diabetic Foot Ulcer

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a common condition in people where the blood glucose level is higher than the recommended level. It occurs either due to the improper secretion of insulin by the pancreas or when the body doesn’t use the insulin effectively. The count of the number of people being affected by diabetes has been increasing drastically over the past few decades. About 60% of patients with diabetics will sustain from nerve damage, in which 5% of the patients suffer from diabetic foot ulcer and 1% of patient end up with amputation. Hence, with the early prediction of foot ulcers among diabetics, we can cure foot ulcers in the early stages of infection. An attempt is made to design a device that will be able to predict diabetic foot ulcers in patients with the help of various sensors. The device measures temperature (MLX90614), gait/pressure (piezoelectric sensor), and oxygen level (MAX30100) sensors. It is done by placing the sensors in predefined locations. The output of sensors is processed using Arduino Nano. The device captures vital biomarkers using the sensors described in the methodology. The processed values are compared with the standard values. The results obtained from the comparisons can be used to differentiate between the normal and abnormal feet of the patients.Hence, the proposed screening tool is used to predict the diabetic foot ulcer before their onset and can be used as a preliminary screening device.