Project description
Temperature imaging to reduce amputation rates in diabetic foot ulceration patients
It is estimated that at least half of all amputations occur in people with diabetes. Diabetic foot ulceration is a frequently observed, serious and chronic complication of diabetes. Early diagnosis and monitoring are vital to address the growing number of amputations and subsequent deaths cause by diabetic foot complications. In this context, the EU-funded PODIUM project developed a cloud-based home device that uses rapid temperature imaging and analysis of thermographs to detect the excess heat that the body generates right before the development of ulcers (and tissue damage which is irreversible). The device’s rapid temperature imaging offers 10 times higher sensitivity and reliability than any other similar solution currently on the market. The ultimate goal of the project is to reduce lower limb amputations.
Objective
"There are 60m adults suffering from diabetes in Europe and 3.8m in UK (5m by 2025). Diabetes has a high mortality rate caused mainly by complications (75,000 deaths p.a. of which 24,000 are premature). One life-threatening complication of diabetes is a diabetic foot ulcer (DFU). Studies revealed a 12% to 25% lifetime risk of developing DFU for diabetics, meaning over 9m Europeans (c.456,000 to 1m in UK) might suffer from DFU in their lifetime. A serious consequence of DFU is lower limb amputation; 85% of the amputations in diabetes sufferers are reported after unsuccessful DFU treatment amounting to 290,000–450,000 amputations/year in Europe, at a cost of €2–2.5bn/year.
The PODIUM™ technology is a novel, extremely reliable and highly sensitive solution for the cost-effective diagnosis and monitoring of DFUs through rapid temperature imaging and reliable analysis of thermographs. PODIUM™ will result in increased numbers of prevented DFUs through 10X higher sensitivity than any competitive solutions. A timely response from physicians, facilitated by PODIUM™ could reduce DFU-related amputations and healthcare costs. Thermetrix’s technology will provide a considerable Quality of Life (QoL) improvement for users and enable substantial savings in healthcare even if only a very small percentage would adopt PODIUM™. The global DFU and pressure ulcers market is expected to grow from US$2.8bn in 2015 to US$4.9bn by 2024 (CAGR 6.6%).
The objectives of this project are (1) experiment with the introduction of liquid crystalline cholesteric esters instead of infrared-cameras as detection method (dramatically decreasing the cost of the method); (2) validate the higher efficacy, diagnostic value, convenience and cost-effectiveness of PODIUM™ over conventional approaches; and (3) validate the business model based on ""unit costs plus cloud subscription"" with the aim of generating a ROI of 23:1 based only on European sales only.
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Fields of science
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftware
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcomposites
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineendocrinologydiabetes
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementbusiness models
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringliquid crystals
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
CF45 4SN ABERCYNON
United Kingdom
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.