Smart foot and ankle sensor system for diabetic foot care

Approximately 10%-15% of people with diabetes will have a foot ulcer at some stage in their lives, which can lead to costly wound treatment episodes, amputation, or potential life-threatening conditions. Diabetic patients present abnormal ankle-foot biomechanical patterns compared with normal ankle-foot function due to neuropathy related complications e.g. muscle and tendon stiffness. This leads to elevated plantar load which is known as the main external factor to cause foot ulcers. It is thus important to capture the plantar loading and limb movement during patients’ active daily living activities, based on which self-monitoring system could be implemented, effectively preventing foot ulcers.

This interdisciplinary project aims to develop a first-of-its kind wearable foot-ankle sensor system. The output of the system can be used to identify the complex biomechanics of diabetic foot-ankle system which could provide guidance to clinicians and patients.
Applicants with backgrounds or interest in the fields of biomedical engineering, mechatronics, machine learning, computer sciences etc are potentially suitable. Additional experience in human locomotion analysis would be advantageous but not essential.

If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact Prof. Liudi Jiang, Engineering Materials Research group, Email: [Email Address Removed], Tel: +44 (0) 2380 59 8748.