BETiC's Diabetic Foot Screener

India is called the diabetes capital of the world, with over 60 million people affected by the disease. About 25% of them develop Peripheral neuropathy, leading to the damage nerves in the soles of their feet. The poor sensation of pain unknowingly leads to high pressure on the soles, building up thicker and harder skin, the hard skin breaks and causes an injury but the person does not feel pain.

Further, as blood circulation is poor, the injury does not heal. It becomes an ulcer, and if not treated, leads to gangrene(a type of tissue death caused by lack of blood supply).To prevent the infection from spreading further, the foot needs to be amputated(the surgical removal of all or part of a limb or extremity such as an arm, leg, foot, hand, toe, or finger).

The BETiC team at IIT Bombay has developed a semi-automatic non-invasive device for screening a diabetic foot condition. It detects the stiffness of the tissues on the sole of feet and categorizes the condition of the foot in green, yellow and red risk zones. The clinicians can warn patients susceptible to diabetic foot ulceration in advance, potentially saving them from an amputation.


Video conceptualised and created by The Network
www.the-network.co.in