Diabetes Causes Foot Ulcers? New Insoles May Make Treatment Easier

Data show that every 30 seconds in the world, one person faces amputation due to foot ulcers caused by diabetes. Even more frightening is that the 5-year mortality rate of patients after amputation is as high as 40%.

Researchers at Purdue University in the United States have developed a new type of insoles for diabetics that can make the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers easier.

Purdue University electrical and computer engineering professor Babak Ziyi said, “One of the ways to heal these wounds is to give them oxygen. We have built a system that gradually releases oxygen throughout the day so that patients can have more activities. ability."

The main causes of ulcers in the diabetic group were neuropathy and vascular disease. Neuropathy can bring about problems such as abnormal kinesthesia and protective nerve loss. Vascular disease can cause local tissue ischemia and hypoxia, and eventually cause foot and toe necrosis and loss of sensation.

For these patients, they are often unaware that the skin tissue of the feet has broken, which leads to the development of ulcers.

On the other hand, high blood sugar and dry skin caused by diabetes further slow down the healing process of ulcers and make the condition continue to worsen.

Researchers say that the gold standard for treating ulcers is actually to provide a protective environment for patients' feet.

To this end, the research team used lasers to make silicone rubber into a custom diabetic insole.

, And set up an oxygen storage room in it to release oxygen to the foot ulcer.

The researcher explained that when the patient walks, he will use the diabetic insole foam sheet

Pressure is applied on the upper layer, causing oxygen to gush out from the bottom layer and enter the hypoxic tissue of the ulcer through the top layer, thereby helping the ulcer site to heal.

Moreover, even in the sitting state, the pressure of the feet can still make the diabetic shoes insole

Deliver oxygen to the site of the ulcer.

Next, the researchers plan to test this custom diabetic insole on actual diabetic ulcers to further evaluate how it advances the ulcer healing process.

In fact, for diabetics, comfortable shoes can also prevent foot ulcers.

Experts suggest that patients should choose closed shoes to reduce the contact between the feet and the outside; the shoes should be loose and easily accommodate the feet; the soles are slightly thicker to disperse the pressure on the soles; the internal material is smooth, avoiding prominent folds and seams, and reducing wear Feet.

But no matter what kind of preventive measures, they can't solve the problem fundamentally. The most important thing for patients with diabetes is to control blood sugar, blood pressure and blood lipids. At the same time, they must also check frequently to prevent pathological changes.