MOTIVATION

Diabetes is a major public health issue for Europe, with diabetes affecting about 9,1% of the population in Europe. This represents a major economic burden to the healthcare system with annual cost reaching €7- 10 € billion to direct yearly costs, across EU.

A Cost-Effective Photonics-based Device for Early Prediction,

Monitoring and Management of Diabetic Foot Ulcers

CONCEPT & APPROACH

PHOOTONICS aims at developing innovative, reliable, and cost-effective (in terms of almost zero operational cost and high return of investment) photonic-driven devices for Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU) monitoring and management which can be applied for wide use. The project supports two versions:

the PHOOTONICS In-Home, used for DFU monitoring by patients and

the PHOOTONICS PRO operated by physicians at their premises.

PHOOTONICS PRO

The PRO version is dedicated for physicians at their offices or at hospitals. It enhances the In-Home version by including the i) optimized HSI sensor, combining with the IR hyperthermia photodetector, ii) the optimized Mid-IR Sensor and iii) the activities HSI illuminator to increase reliability and provide measurements of additional attributes (e.g. tissue properties), while simultaneously keeping the cost affordable for professional use.

PHOOTONICS In-Home

The In-Home version is designed to be dedicated for patients. It includes the optimized low-cost IR sensor with the embedded signal/processing tools in order to increase the resolution performance, reduce noise and provides high-level decision-making mechanisms.

Consortium

APPROACH

1. Preparation phase:

The project commences with the preparation phase where the scene is set. The main activity of this phase is a meta-analysis of existing clinical trials, applying photonic-enabled technologies in DFUs prediction and healing.

2. Photonic-enabled fabrication phase:

The objective of this phase is to optimized and deliver the PHOOTONICS device. Hardware and software components are included.

3. Clinical studies phase:

In this phase the developed device is evaluated in clinical studies. Validation concerns where the delivered device is capable of capturing the necessary medical information needed for early prediction and management of DFUs.

4. Integration phase:

Integration activities starts after the delivery of the PHOOTONICS software components. It comprises two phases.

5. Feedback:

An iterative implementation framework is adopted to minimize potential integration risks. Therefore, three clinical studies phases are foreseen.