PODIATRIST PUBLISHES FIRST SUCCESSFUL "SMART BOOT" DIABETIC WOUND

posted: Feb. 25, 2022.

As part of its partnership with Center to Stream Healthcare in Place (C2SHIP), Keck Medicine of USC has developed a new, interactive smart boot to help diabetic patients recover from dangerous foot wounds. “The first phase of the boot project was just to protect the wound,” explained David Armstrong, PhD, DPM, director of C2SHIP and professor of surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “If we can take off the pressure, we can heal the wound.”

 

Dr. David Armstrong

 

The boots worked, but the team had a problem: Patient compliance with wearing the boot was hovering at around 28%. That led to phase two: a boot that patients couldn’t remove. Patients healed more quickly, but it wasn’t ideal. In time, phase three emerged: a more sophisticated wearable. Driven by cloud computing, the new model allows patients to put on or remove the boot whenever they wish. To further increase compliance, the boot gives feedback to the patient about their activity level and the amount of time they spend with the boot on. This “smart boot” also sends data directly to the care team.

 

Source: Lex Davis, HSC News [2/14/22]

Courtesy of Barry Block, editor of PM News