Bengaluru, 13 Jun: Researchers in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), in collaboration with the Karnataka Institute of Endocrinology and Research (KIER), have developed a set of self-regulating footwear for persons with diabetes.
\nFoot injuries or wounds in persons with diabetes heal at a slower rate than in healthy individuals, which increases the chance of infection, and may lead to complications that require amputation in extreme cases.
\nThe footwear -\u2013 a pair of specially-designed sandals -\u2013 developed by the IISc-led team is 3D printed and can be customised to an individual\u2019s foot dimensions and walking style, the Bengaluru-based IISc said in a press release on Monday.
\n\u201cUnlike conventional therapeutic footwear, a snapping mechanism in these sandals keeps the feet well-balanced, enabling faster healing of the injured region and preventing injuries from arising in other areas of the feet,\u201d it said.
\nThe footwear, the IISc said, can be especially beneficial for people who have diabetic peripheral neuropathy \u2013 those who suffer from nerve damage caused by diabetes, leading to a loss of sensation in the foot.
\n\u201cDiabetic peripheral neuropathy is one of the long-term complications of diabetes, and its diagnosis is mostly neglected,\u201d says Pavan Belehalli, Head of the Department of Podiatry at KIER, and one of the authors of the study published in \u2018Wearable Technologies\u2019. \u201cThis loss of sensation leads to irregular walking patterns in persons with diabetes.\u201d For example, a healthy person usually places their heel first on the ground, followed by the foot and toes, and then the heel again \u2013 this \u2018gait cycle\u2019 distributes the pressure evenly across the foot.
\nBut due to the loss of sensation, persons with diabetes may not always follow this sequence, which means that the pressure is unevenly distributed. Regions of the foot where the pressure exerted is high are at greater risk of developing ulcers, corns, calluses and other complications.
\nMost of the therapeutic footwear available in the market is ineffective at off-loading the uneven pressure exerted by the \u2018abnormal\u2019 gait cycle of persons with diabetes, the researchers claim.
\nTo address this challenge, they designed arches in their sandals that \u2018snap\u2019 to an inverted shape when a pressure beyond a certain threshold is applied.
\n\u201cWhen we remove the pressure, (the arch) will automatically come back to its initial position \u2013 this is what is called self-offloading,\u201d explains first author Priyabrata Maharana, PhD student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IISc. \u201cWe consider the individual\u2019s weight, foot size, walking speed and pressure distribution to arrive at the maximum force that has to be off-loaded.\u201d Multiple arches have been designed along the length of the footwear to off-load the pressure effectively.
\n\u201cThis is a mechanical solution to a problem,\u201d explains G K Ananthasuresh, Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IISc, and senior author of the study. \u201cMost of the time, people use electromechanical solutions.\u201d Such solutions involve using sensors and actuators that can rack up the price of the footwear and make them very expensive, he adds.
\nThe team is collaborating with start-ups \u2018Foot Secure\u2019 and \u2018Yostra Labs\u2019 to commercialise their product. (PTI)
\n\u201cThere are a lot of commercial shoe manufacturers selling costly footwear in the name of giving comfort using what they call memory foam, but we have tested them, and they don\u2019t have the required characteristics,\u201d says Ananthasuresh. \u201cThis footwear can be used not only by people suffering from diabetic neuropathy, but by others as well.\u201d PTI<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bengaluru, 13 Jun: Researchers in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), in collaboration with the Karnataka Institute of Endocrinology and Research (KIER), have developed a set of self-regulating footwear for persons with diabetes. Foot injuries or wounds in persons with diabetes heal at a slower rate than in healthy individuals, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-193029","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-national"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193029\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}