Responsive Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation for Management of Diabetic Foot Neuropathy

Abstract

Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy (DPN) is the major complication faced by diabetic patients which creates numbness, burning, and tingling sensations in the foot. DPN further leads to diabetic foot ulcers, which happen due to uneven pressure points seen in the diabetic foot and affect the patient’s walking pattern. Hyperglycemia affects the ulcer’s healing rate, which might lead to foot amputation. Therefore, treatment is required to speed up the healing rate of ulcers and reduce the complications of peripheral neuropathy. The designed system has been planned to be fixed inside the shoe of the patient to provide realtime pulsatile electrical stimulation while walking, which will provide relief from the pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Force-sensing resistor (FSR) sensors are placed in the sole area of the shoe and sense the pressure pattern by detecting the uneven pressure points during normal walking. By localising the pressure or ulcer location, a pulse of electrical stimulation of 25 mA to 35 mA is provided to the foot of the patient while walking with the help of a surface electrode to increase the healing rate of the ulcer and reduce the complications associated with peripheral neuropathy. Basically, this work is designed to initiate active stimulation while a person is in motion, while most of the current state-of-the-art devices are designed for stationary operation.