In Europe, approximately 60 million Europeans are currently living with diabetes, a condition for which there is unfortunately no cure. This disorder carries an immense financial burden on EU Member States’ healthcare budgets – totaling EUR 149 billion in Europe alone during 2019 – as it accounts for nearly 9% of the total expenditure. Furthermore, sadly, 114.000 people across the continent each year succumb to issues related to this illness; making its consequences tragically far-reaching.

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In the United States, diabetes has been a strain on resources since 2017 - with an inflated cost of $237 billion and a rise in price by 26% from 2012. A third of this expenditure is attributed to medical attention directed towards diabetic foot disease[1]; similarly, cancer-related costs were calculated at $80.2 billion up until 2015[2] - nearly equivalent to that for dealing with conditions related to feet caused by diabetes[3]. As time moves forward it's predicted that cases involving diabetics will increase drastically; thus emphasising the need for effective management now more than ever before[4]!

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As a result, treatment and care can be complex due to needing coordination between multiple health professionals from primary through secondary up until specialist stages; proper management remains essential nonetheless if individuals affected by diabetes are going to receive effective aid.

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To combat this significant challenge, the PHOOTONICS project is developing a data-driven, user friendly, and patient-oriented medical device concept, that will diagnose diabetic foot ulcers and prevent frequent, costly and avoidable complications of DFUs. If you need any further information on this topic, please visit: www.phootonics.eu/

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[1] Armstrong DG, Boulton AJM, Bus SA. Diabetic foot ulcers and their recurrence. N Engl J Med. 2017;376(24):2367–75.

[2] Economic Impact of Cancer. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-basics/economic-impact-of-cancer.html

[3] Armstrong, D.G., Swerdlow, M.A., Armstrong, A.A. et al. Five year mortality and direct costs of care for people with diabetic foot complications are comparable to cancer. J Foot Ankle Res 13, 16 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13047-020-00383-2

[4] NCI Budget and Appropriations. National Cancer Institute.