EFRO ExPressure: sensor sock for quantification of pressure stool interventions in diabetic foot problems

Foot ulcers are one of the major complications of diabetes, both in terms of patients' quality of life and in terms of social care costs. The risk of developing diabetic foot ulcers can be limited by fitting well-fitting orthopedic shoes at an early stage.

For the time being, this fitting is often not based on objective measurements, but based on the craftsmanship of the orthopedic shoemaker or podiatrist. In addition, existing measuring systems that can quantify the pressure on the foot in a shoe are limited to the sole of the foot and are therefore unable to identify pressure points on the top of the foot. Because about half of all foot ulcers arise on the top of the foot, it is important that the pressure can also be measured on this side.

The main objective of the ExPressure project is to develop an accurate, valid, implementable and user-friendly measurement system for pressure measurements in shoes. This instrument will map the pressure distribution around the entire foot in order to quantify the pressure profile of orthopaedic shoes and insoles at a personal level.

The expertise within the consortium covers all relevant areas of knowledge, and because this expertise is provided by partners of technical university;  University of Twente, university of applied sciences; Saxion University of Applied Sciences and SMEs; GroupPractice Ed  Wender, Voetmax, PLT Products and  PodoIT, the consortium as a whole has ample experience with all phases of development.

Topic

Embedded systems, sensing garments, smart textiles, texilte electronic integration, human digital twin, 3D representation

Partners

  • Groepspraktijk Ed Wender
  • Voetmax
  • PLT products
  • Podo-IT
  • University of Twente
  • Saxion University of Applied Sciences

Duration

The project duration is for 3.5 years, from the January 2020 until June 2023.

More information

Financing

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Europees Fonds voor Regionale Ontwikkeling (EFRO)

This project is made possible in part by a contribution from the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union

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