Stress-measuring smartwear in diabetes foot care is a “sock-cess” story
Pioneering healthcare technology for diabetes developed as part of NHS 10-year plan.
The first sock measuring shear stress aimed at reducing the risk of foot ulcers for patients with diabetes is being developed by researchers at Lancaster University.
The sock contains smart sensors to measure friction and alongside a foot screening app powered by AI (artificial intelligence).
The smart sock is among several innovations currently being developed by Neil Reeves, Professor of Secure Health Technologies at Lancaster Medical School, to improve the lives of patients with diabetes.
Professor Reeves said: “We have developed several innovations based on digital technology which enable patients with diabetes to improve their quality of life and to better manage their condition, while reducing the burden on the NHS.
“Digital technological solutions, particularly for diabetes are rapidly emerging and promise to have a transformative impact on how our health service operates now and into the future.”
Current budget figures show that half the annual cost of the NHS is spent treating diabetes complications, with one in four foot ulcers leading to amputation of all or part of the lower leg.
Professor Reeves leads the EPSRC-funded smart sock project to develop socks with embedded sensors to help prevent diabetic foot ulcers. Providing foot pressure feedback to the patient has been shown to reduce diabetic foot ulcer incidence by more than 70%.
The project has now completed trials with diabetes patients and there is commercial interest from a private digital health company working in partnership with the NHS.
In collaboration with Professor Moi Hoon Yap of Manchester Metropolitan University, Professor Reeves has also co-developed an app called FootSnap-AI which uses computer vision technology to identify a foot ulcer at various stages of development.
Both Professor Reeves and Professor Yap have been awarded the Oracle Innovator Accelerator Grant to scale-up and translate this towards clinical practice with industry partners.
The FootSnap-AI project has now been deployed as part of a research study at hospitals across Salford Royal NHS Trust, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Manchester University NHS Trust, with the help of the digital healthcare company Aire Logic.
Professor Reeves’s research has also been used in Feetsee, a digital medical device currently available to patients which is designed to be used at home to monitor the temperature of the soles of the foot. This helps to detect early signs of inflammation preventing foot ulcers and is currently being trialled as part of a European-funded research study at hospitals in Manchester and Blackpool.
Professor Reeves discovered that vibrating insoles in shoes can help improve gait and balance in people with diabetes. Because of peripheral nerve damage causing problems with balance, people with diabetes are up to 20-times more likely to fall compared to someone without diabetes.
Additional research by Professor Reeves demonstrated that wearing vibrating insoles for only 10 minutes improved walking quality to the same level as after six months of strenuous exercise training. This research is also of relevance for an ageing population.
Healthcare technologies are central to the digital transformation promised by the NHS 10-Year Health Plan announced in January 2025, moving from “hospital to community; sickness to prevention; and analogue to digital”
Professor Reeves previously carried out DRWF-funded research into the effect diabetic neuropathy has on people’s walking ability.
Professor Reeves said: “The DRWF-funded research was important in showing how diabetic neuropathy influences walking activities and contributes to unsteadiness and the risk of falls in people with diabetes.
“This is all part of a body of research that we are undertaking into the complications of diabetes and understanding how this influences walking function, unsteadiness, fall-risk and foot problems.
“Foot problems, diabetic neuropathy and unsteadiness are very closely linked and many people who have diabetic neuropathy may experience unsteadiness and will also need to take good care of their feet to avoid foot problems.”
Read the DRWF diabetes information resource Foot health and diabetes
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