Designing an Internet Based Remote Diabetic Foot Wound Monitoring and Treatment System

Chronic wounds are a major problem for diabetic people around the world. Sometimes when a diabetic person gets a wound and it becomes infected, it takes a long time to heal properly and – if left unnoticed and untreated – requires the limb to be amputated, usually happening to wounds on the foot of the diabetic person, thus called diabetic foot. To solve this problem, we devised a remote Internet of Things (IoT)-based system using an Arduino UNO Wi-Fi platform to remotely monitor and treat a wound, enabling physicians to provide an early diagnosis and medical intervention to prevent such amputations. This system records the pH, humidity, and temperature of the wound, which changes when a wound is getting infected by a bacterium and is becoming a chronic wound. Our system is also capable of incorporating newer evolving therapies by being able to actuate them, like sending electricity through wound crater by under skin wire to turn on an LED – broadly representing turning on an electrotherapy system that could be properly implemented later – or turning on a pump to deliver liquid medication of some kind, by a physician remotely switching them through an Internet of Things device if determined the therapy is needed. We made a silicone foot model to simulate diabetic foot. We made a crater to simulate a wound, tunneled wires inside, and placed an LED to demonstrate the actuation of the electrotherapy. We used anhydrous calcium chloride to generate a thermogenic reaction to simulate the increase in temperature, humidity, and pH changes, which are hallmarks of inflammation and infection. We would then check how the sensors recorded the data, comparing temperature, pH, and humidity from before and after the calcium chloride was added. Ultimately, we designed an innovative diabetic simulation model that uses an analog PH0-14 E-201-C pH sensor, a DS18B20 submersible temperature sensor, and a DHT11 humidity sensor to record data simulation infection; and wires connected to the Arduino’s pins to actuate electrotherapy and power the pump to deliver liquid medicine remotely via an app which an iOS-based system, like an iPhone or iPad can access.