Part 1 | The low-down on wearable devices + remote monitoring

With the tech landscape changing so quickly, it’s easy to get momentarily left behind – and it’s not uncommon for your patients to be the first to tell you about the latest wearable device or remote monitoring tool. While not an exhaustive summary, the following information recaps some of these latest developments.

Firstly, what are wearable devices and sensors?  

Wearable devices can include smartphone and smartwatch data. Sensors also fit within this category, yet they can also be attached to socks or directly on the skin inside a shoe, for example. A range of data can be collected from any of these technologies, such as temperature, heart rate, inflammation, or moisture levels.

There are many benefits to these kinds of metrics. Temperature monitoring can be useful in patients who have diabetes, whereas moisture detection can aid in tracking fungal infections or infections. This is just the tip of the iceberg however, no doubt you have come across countless other applications in your own experience.

What are remote monitoring devices?

These devices enable continuous monitoring of a patient’s foot health, outside of a clinical setting. For example, a patient may submit selfies of their foot via an app, such as MyFootCare, which was developed in Queensland. Other examples of remote monitoring include a UK start-up that is developing an at-home scanning device to detect oedema in patients who may be at risk of heart failure.

What are other examples of this technology?

• Balance and stability training devices: These devices are increasingly used in communities where people may be at high risk of falls, such as amongst people with diabetes and the elderly.
• Smart insoles: Often falling within the above category, but not always, these insoles can track pressure distribution, analyse gait, and even provide real-time feedback on a patient’s walking or running form. This technology is also being used in a range of populations, such as tracking falls-risk in people with Parkinson’s Disease and helping to prevent injury in people with diabetes.
• Footwear with built-in tech: Also connected to the above two categories, but not always, this technology covers shoes with integrated sensors to track movement or even sweat and other data.
• Pedometers and activity trackers: These wearables are probably what you come across most in your daily practice as a podiatrist, with patients sharing their activity and fitness statistics with you, alongside other valuable data.

What does the research say?

Extensive research exists in this area; these examples provide a starting point.

• Factors influencing Australian podiatrists’ behavioural intentions to adopt a smart insole into clinical practice: a mixed methods study
• The role of artificial intelligence technology in the care of diabetic foot ulcers: the past, the present, and the future
• The Potential Role of Sensors, Wearables and Telehealth in the Remote Management of Diabetes-Related Foot Disease
• Can a shoe-mounted IMU identify the effects of orthotics in ways comparable to gait laboratory measurements?
• Plantar pressure and falling risk in older individuals: a cross-sectional study
• Effects of supportive and minimalist footwear on standing balance and walking stability in older women
• Wearable sensors-based postural analysis and fall risk assessment among patients with diabetic foot neuropathy

Have an idea for a product?

Do you have an idea for a wearable device, software, app or other remote monitoring product? Part 2 in this month’s special report shares how to  take a good idea for a podiatry product or healthtech solution – and turn it into something much bigger.