Low-cost in-shoe pressure measurement

“这一可行性项目的成功完成将产生一种新的测量系统，用于评估在日常生活活动中有患足溃疡风险的足部所承受的负荷。因此，它在预防疾病和主动管理健康和慢性疾病方面具有重大潜力。这种新颖的系统简单易用，其成本仅为现有电子鞋内压力传感器的一小部分。这将使其能够广泛用于糖尿病患者群体，通过更好的风险评估和循证干预措施加强溃疡预防。更具体地说，拟议中的系统将为新的筛查方案开辟道路，以识别那些足部关键区域超载的人，从而有患溃疡的风险。此外，它还将使从事糖尿病足工作的医疗保健专业人员能够确定足部承受极高负荷的区域，并设计有效的干预措施来减轻负荷。总的来说，提出的系统将使临床医生能够早期干预，有效地预防溃疡，最重要的是防止第一次溃疡。糖尿病及其并发症的管理是我们这个时代最关键的社会挑战之一。仅在英国，就有360万人患有糖尿病，据估计，其中约15%的人会在某个阶段发展为糖尿病足溃疡，可能导致截肢。事实上，在英国，每周有多达135人因糖尿病而截肢，这对患者的生活质量和死亡率产生了巨大影响。拟议项目的成功完成将极大地帮助解决这一关键的社会挑战。溃疡率的降低也将为NHS节省大量资金，并为英国带来经济效益。糖尿病足并发症的临床护理费用比五种最昂贵的癌症加起来还要多。在英国，每年截肢和溃疡治疗的直接费用估计在0.97- 11.3亿英镑/年之间。事实上，据计算，溃疡率减少1%将为NHS每年节省120万至480万英镑的直接治疗费用。”

"The successful completion of this feasibility project will generate a novel measurement system for assessing the loading that is applied on the foot-at-risk of developing a foot ulcer during activities of daily living. It therefore would have significant potential for disease prevention and proactive management of health and chronic conditions.This novel system will be simple and easy to use and it will cost only a fraction of the cost of existing electronic in-shoe pressure sensors. This will enable its use in wide cohorts of people with diabetes to enhance prevention of ulcers through better risk assessment and evidence-based interventions. More specifically, the proposed system will open the way for new screening protocols to identify people that overload critical areas of their feet and therefore are at risk of developing an ulcer. Moreover, it will also enable healthcare professionals working on diabetic feet to identify the areas of the foot that are subjected to critically high loading and to design effective interventions to offload them. Overall the proposed system will empower clinicians to intervene early and effectively to prevent ulcerations and most importantly to prevent the first ulceration.The management of diabetes and its complications is one of the most critical societal challenges of our age. In the UK alone, there are 3.6 million people already living with diabetes and it is estimated that approximately 15% of them will at some stage develop diabetic foot ulceration that could lead to amputation. Indeed, in the UK up to 135 people/week have a limb amputated as a result of diabetes with a huge impact on the patients' quality of life and mortality rate. The successful completion of the proposed project will significantly help address this key societal challenge.A reduction in ulceration rates will also result in massive savings for the NHS and economic benefits for the UK. The clinical care of diabetic foot complications cost more than the five most costly forms of cancer put together. In the UK the annual direct cost of amputations and ulcer management is estimated to be between £0.97-1.13 billion/ year. Indeed, it is calculated that a modest 1% reduction in ulceration rates will translate in annual savings for NHS of £1.2 - 4.8 million in direct treatment cost."