Intelligent Dynamic Offloader Insole (with MR Fluid and Sensor) for Preventing Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU)
Team Members Heading link
- Ishan Gandhi
- Rui Li
- Andy Li
- Aniel Patel
- Rob Vega
- Renaud Youtcha
Project Description Heading link
The objective of this project is to design and manufacture an Intelligent Dynamic Offloader (iDo) insole prototype. This design is aiming to prevent Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU) which is a common complication of diabetes where 20% of subjects lose their limbs. The principle of this design is to apply Magnetorheological fluid (MR Fluid) and customized sensors to detect foot pressure acting on the insole to react precisely on the correct pressure point to boost the blood flow. While the pathology of DFU is foot ischemia caused by squeezing and compression of the foot. The basic idea of this project revolves around DFU which is developed on the feet of people with diabetes leading to mobility disability. A DFU is an open sore commonly located on the bottom of the foot which if not treated, leads to infection and other ulcer-related difficulties. DFUs can result in limited walking and become a lifelong disability, which can severely impact physical and mental health along with quality of living. Since the DFU patients take fewer steps as compared to a healthy person, the idea is to reduce the problem and not to cure it so to reduce the ulcers. Therefore, to reduce this problem to some extent, therapeutic footwears, which are devices that “offload”, or lessen the physical stress on the surface of the foot are the primary method for avoiding ulcer formation.