Foot Temperature Monitoring for PDN and PAD Progression Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current diagnostic methods for peripheral diabetic neuropathy (PDN) and peripheral arterial disease (PAD) are inadequate for routine monitoring and predicting progression, often requiring clinical administration by healthcare professionals and lacking standardization, leading to missed diagnoses and increased risk of complications such as foot ulcers and amputation.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus using temperature sensors or thermal cameras to monitor foot temperatures, analyzing temperature data to predict and track the progression of PDN or PAD, enabling early intervention and providing output information on the presence, emergence, or trajectory of these conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If routine monitoring of PDN and PAD is implemented, then early detection and intervention capability is improved, but device complexity and measurement standardization requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system is segmented into multiple temperature sensors distributed across the foot platform, each independently measuring temperature at specific locations. This segmentation allows comprehensive monitoring without requiring a single complex sensor system, thereby improving early detection capability while managing system complexity through modular sensor deployment
Solution Approach 2:
The temperature monitoring platform serves multiple functions: it detects temperature changes indicative of PDN and PAD, provides baseline measurements for comparison, and enables routine monitoring at home. This multi-functionality improves early detection capability across different clinical scenarios without proportionally increasing device complexity
2Measurement precision
If temperature sensors are placed within the receiving region, then measurement precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to contact requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses a platform that replicates the clinical examination environment by providing a standardized receiving region with temperature sensors. Patients can perform the monitoring at home by simply placing their foot on the platform, copying the precision of clinical measurements without requiring healthcare professional involvement, thus maintaining measurement precision while improving ease of operation
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables early detection and monitoring of PDN and PAD progression, allowing for timely medical intervention to prevent complications like foot ulcers and amputation, improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs.
Implementation Method 1
The set of temperature sensors is configured to thermally communicate with the bottom of the foot within the receiving region to ascertain a current temperature at each of a set of different locations of the bottom of the foot
Implementation Method 2
directs the infrared radiation sensor toward the bottom surface of the patient's foot to produce a current thermal image data set
Implementation Method 3
The thermal camera having an infrared radiation sensor, and directs the infrared radiation sensor toward the bottom surface of the patient's foot
Data Source
AI summary
The bottom surface of a patient's foot makes contact with the receiving region of a device body to cause a set of temperature sensors to produce a current set of temperature values. Four or more earlier sets of temperature values produced at earlier times for the bottom surface of the patient's foot are accessed. Next, after setting a normalization reference for the earlier sets of temperature values and the current set of temperature values to produce normalized data, the normalized data is transformed into model information representing the progression of PDN or PAD. That model information is used to ascertain the trajectory of the patient's PDN or PAD.