FeetWell

Project "FeetWell" data sheet

The following table provides information about the project.

 Partnership

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 Project objective

In 2014 422 million adults in the world suffered from diabetes, and the increasingly sedentary ways of life will contribute to the “growth” of this disease. Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are one of the most common complications of diabetes, accounting for most of diabetic patients’ hospitalization, and being the direct cause for 50% of all non-traumatic amputations. This also implies substantial healthcare costs: compared with “healthy” diabetic patients, the cost of care for patients with a foot ulcer is 5.4 times higher, and across the EU, ulcer complications’ care adds 7- 10 € billion to direct yearly costs. Early diagnosis can have a significant impact on decreasing the impact of DFUs. However, this is not a simple task, as current methods for the diagnosis of DFUs rely only on foot inspection by doctors and decades-old microbiological techniques. Therefore, there is an urgent need for technologies that enable early diagnosis of DFUs so as to minimise their consequences. FeetWell™ is the response to this need: a user-friendly device based on the merging of different monitoring technologies (IR Thermography, Ultrasonography and Dermatoscopy) to facilitate early detection of microvascular and macrovascular foot complications. Moreover, as it is a simple to use device, it will empower patients, making them less reliant on doctor visits and increasing their engagement into their self-care. Feetwell is a strategic project for our company, Metis Baltic, as it will enable us to bridge the gap between previous R&D projects and launch ourselves into the medical diagnostic tools’ market as the developers of the 1st automated diabetic foot inspection device on the market, by 2020 reaching revenues of €16.5 million by 2022, with a ROI of 2.2, and multiplying by 10 our staff. But Feetwell will not only benefit our company, but it will also contribute to reducing the impact of DFUs on EU healthcare systems.