Project description
Remote scan steps in to prevent diabetic foot ulcers
There are about 60 million people with diabetes in the European region. Diabetic foot ulcer is one of the most serious complications of diabetes and many patients are required to undergo lower limb amputations. The related costs of treatment and rehabilitation are steep, creating a big burden on healthcare systems. The EU-funded DELTA project will develop a home-based device that looks like a typical bathroom scale to predict and prevent diabetic foot ulcers. This remote scanner combines special advanced algorithms, sensors, computer vision and uses machine learning. By preventing ulcers, the technology can prevent hundreds of thousands of amputations, improving lives and saving healthcare systems millions of euros each year.
Objective
Diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) lead to approximately 150,000 amputations and €23 billion in costs in Europe each year. Of the
60 million diabetics in Europe , 1.5 million currently have a diabetic foot ulcer and 15 million will develop on at some point in
their life . Each ulcer takes 3-6 months to heal and costs upwards of €14,000 to treat, however, if hospitalisation or
amputation is required these costs can be as high as €100,000 . Diabetic foot ulcers pose a significant burden on healthcare
systems around the world. The NHS in England spends almost 1% of its entire annual budget (£1.13 billion) on the diabetic
foot. Almost all of these ulcers and amputations are preventable through early identification and proper care. Bluedrop
Medical are developing a remote monitoring system that uses computer vision and machine learning to predict and prevent
diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). The home-based device, taking the form of a bathroom scales, performs a daily scan of the
patient’s feet. In 10 seconds, thermal and photographic data is collected and sent to the cloud. Advanced algorithms monitor
daily foot scans to detect DFUs before they develop, providing actionable alerts to both patient and healthcare provider. The
technique of temperature monitoring has been proven to prevent 70% of DFUs and Bluedrop Medical are building this
technique into an easy and quick to use device enabled by advanced sensor technology, computer vision algorithms and
machine learning. By preventing ulcers, the technology can prevent hundreds of thousands of amputations, improving lives
and saving healthcare systems millions of euro each year. Bluedrop Medical is targeting the highest risk patients who
currently have a 30-40% annual incidence of ulceration by preventing ulcers in this group a potential average saving of
€3,000 per patient can be achieve
Fields of science
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligencecomputer vision
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineendocrinologydiabetes
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligencemachine learning
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinator
H91 GALWAY
Ireland
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.