DiabeTech Management System

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  Sample data for delivering vascular assessment.

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  Sample data gathered for delivering nervous system assessment.

Inspiration

Many symptoms of diabetes motivate clinical intervention against related complications, but poor prognosis initiates a vicious cycle of harm to the patient concerning this chronic disease. As the prevalence of diabetes increases worldwide, so does the number of patients suffering from diabetic foot syndrome. On average, a diabetic patient, regardless of being either type 1 or type 2, has about a 25% chance of developing diabetic ulcers over his or her lifetime. To date, there are about 422 million people who have diabetes, and this number is expected to climb to 642 million by the year 2040.

What it does

DiabeTech Management Systems is an integrated approach to diabetic ulcer prevention. The mission of this project is to provide pathophysiological insight on atherosclerotic and neuropathic biomarkers related to diabetic ulcer progression. Neuropathic, ischemic, and neuro-ischemic ulcer types result from peripherical diabetic neuropathy, peripheral artery disease (PAD), or both, respectively. PAD, an atherosclerotic disease, is a macrovascular complication of hyperglycemia while sensory, motor, and autonomic neuropathies are attributed to microvascular, hyperglycemic damage.

How we built it

This project is a novel attempt to record analog inputs from two photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors, a three-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor, and five pressure sensors. An ECG module detects a pulse while dual PPG sensors record delayed volumetric changes at the brachial and dorsalis pedis arteries. The device concurrently records applied pressure at the heel, mid-foot, forefoot, and toe regions. An Arduino collects these analog inputs and MATLAB software assesses the vascular and nerve damage of a patient.

Challenges we ran into

One challenge I encounted was fitting all the components into a working prototype. Transforming an idea to a feasible project was equally frustrating as it was satisfying between design iterations.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Created two working prototypes using a novel measurement system to observe damage from atherosclerotic and neuropathic comorbidities of diabetes.

What we learned

I appreciated how my journey of making an impact the biomed tech space also gave me an outlet as a designer. I think those competing forces shaped the path of prototyping and putting forth my best effort.

What's next for DiabeTech Management System

I want to upgrade this product's internal circuitry, reliability, and software to pursue patenting. I would like to license out existing technology to optimize the system built for a new era of bioinstrumentation outside the clinical setting.

Built With

• arduino
• matlab