Wound sensor for diabetic ulcers could reduce amputations

According to studies, wound management makes up around four per cent of the total NHS budget, coming in at £8.3bn per year. Of that figure, diabetes related foot ulcers make up 10-12 per cent, accounting for close to £1bn of NHS spending per annum. Better monitoring of these wounds has the potential to save money, time and reduce the 7,000 amputations relating to diabetic foot ulcers that take place in England each year.

Backed by a grant of nearly £1m from the Medical Research Council, the project team is developing a dressing embedded with optical fibre sensors that can assess whether affected tissue is healing or infected. A trial of the smart wound system will see ten diabetic patients with foot ulcers have the dressings applied and monitored on a fortnightly basis for a total of eight weeks per patient. During appointments, the wounds will be assessed, with smart dressings applied for up to one hour under observation while measurements are taken.