Screening System For Diabetes Peripheral Neuropathy Using Foot Plantar Images On Different Hardness Floor

Early diagnosis of diabetes peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is necessary for prevention of diabetes foot diseases in the early stage. In this study, we propose a quantitative DPN screening system which uses the change of the foot plantar images on different hardness floor based on skin hardness of patients. The purpose of this study is to estimate the severity of the DPN based on the foot plantar image. We compared the evaluation between the method of the change of the foot plantar image and classical way to calculate severity points, neurological, and hemodynamic assessments. A positive correlation (0.517) was presented between the proposed evaluation and the classical assessments. Also, we compared the area change rate with the hardness of the foot plantar skin measured by durometer and the hardness based on proposed image diagnosis. We measure the foot plantar images, the hardness, and classical assessment for 113 persons. A significant positive correlation was found between the area change rate and the hardness of the skin of big toe (0.300), first metatarsal head (0.448), and heel (0.400). A significant positive correlation (0.468) was also found between severity and skin hardness in the heel.