Design and Development of a Foot Pressure Scanner for Diabetic Patients

Objective: The purpose of the study is to develop a system for measuring the pressure level at several points on the foot sole. Methodology: The pressure sensors placed on the pressure plate develops a voltage for the corresponding exerted pressure and the voltages are amplified to a considerable value and fed into the multiplexer for digitization by using A/D convertor for further processing. All the data are normalized to obtain an appropriate image. The image colour intensities indicate different pressure distributions of the foot. Findings: The diabetes patients are made to walk on the pressure device and the distributions of pressure are simulated with various color coding using Visual Basic (VB) and the range of pressure from minimum to maximum is validated. Applications/Improvements: The pressure distribution of a patient is found in the foot sole and an appropriate foot wear can be designed to avoid foot ulcers and other deformations.