Computational support system for early diagnosis of diabetic foot

The diabetic foot is a disease that occurs as a result of diabetes mellitus (DM). This problem is caused after suffering by a long time this pathology. The appearance of the diabetic foot can be prevented and combated through measurements and tracking of the physical characteristics of the tissues that compose the foot of the patient with DM disease. The measurement of blood flow in some areas of the foot correlates with the health status of the tissues in this foot of the diabetic patient. Through regular measurements, it is possible to follow up and to describe the effectiveness of the applied preventive therapeutics. In this work, a virtual platform is presented to be used in a Web site, specialized in diabetic foot. The purpose is to offer support for: data logging related to patient medical history, medical diagnostic observations, therapeutic prescriptions, particular observations of the treating medical specialist and follow-up in the evolution of ulcers or changes in the areas most prone to ulceration in patients with diabetes mellitus. The platform is designed for easy handling, allowing an efficient communication from a general server with a number of computers connected through the medical network. This article shows the first results of applying our virtual platform proposal for diabetic foot tracking. It is expected that, from its employment by medical specialists and their subsequent observations, extensions and adjustments in its programming should be made in the future.