A portable in-shoe measurement system to acquire dense continuous foot temperature maps

Abstract

People suffering from diabetes are at risk of developing ulcerations, which, if left untreated, could also lead to amputation. Monitoring of the foot temperature can help identify ulcerations sites before there are any visible signs on the skin. Various studies have shown that elevated temperatures in the foot may be indicative of ulceration. Over the years there have been numerous devices that were designed for foot temperature monitoring, both for clinical and home use. The technologies used vary from infrared (IR) thermometry, liquid crystal thermography (LCT), IR thermography and a vast range of analogue and digital temperature sensors that were incorporated in different measurement platforms. The aim of this thesis is to design an in-shoe portable system that utilises a high-density sensing array to record temperature data from the foot. Software was designed to visualise the recorded temperature data, representing it in format suitable to both clinical and non-clinical users. Various testing was done to validate the system performance, and eventually carried out trial walks with healthy subjects for the analysis of temperature data. The system was able to record temperatures continuously, with the analysed results in line with findings from previous studies. With the systems currently available for in-shoe temperature monitoring, the device designed in this project enable more in-depth analysis of the temperature variations of the foot within the shoe.