The Diabetic Footwear Revolution

Diabetes is a growing healthcare problem in the UK - over 5 million people now have it. One of the problems with diabetes is that it can cause damage to the nerves and blood vessels in the feet, making them more vulnerable to injury and infection. A common foot problem in people with diabetes includes open sores (ulcers) on the foot that can be difficult to heal, this can have a large impact on patients, their families and wider society. Specifically designed shoes can be prescribed to people with diabetes which are made to help prevent foot problems like ulcers. However, these are expensive, take a long time to make and patients often don't like them. This patient dissatisfaction comes from a number of reasons, one being the lack of style options -- the shoes are designed only for function, not fashion. Some people also just find it difficult to adjust to prescribed footwear.

This project will design and test a new and different way of making custom-made shoes for people with diabetes that may reduce the ulcer problem and provide patients with a better looking shoe which they feel more comfortable to wear. In the long term this can improve their diabetes management and so also cost the NHS less money. As part of this work, we want to talk to patients to find out what they think the problems with current footwear are and to the doctors to see how they think it should be improved. Fyous (the company doing the work) will then use its technology (called "polymorphic moulding") to make footwear that better suits the needs of people with diabetes.

Fyous is working with another Company which already supplies the NHS and can help us access patients quickly. We are going to combine the Fyous "polymorphic moulding" technology with their shoes and then test the new product with patients and gather feedback on how they use them.

Once the Fyous technology has been used to create the new shoes, we will explore how the benefits of the technology can be expanded to other medical products and other industries. We will research and develop demonstration products for other potential applications. Fyous' core "polymorphic moulding" technology allows custom-made products to be made to suit the different nature of people's body parts, and also to reduce the waste and environmental impact of other manufacturing techniques such as 3D printing. We then want to develop the technology so that it can be taken away from our factory floor and into a machine (similar to a 3D printer) which can be used by other companies. By making the polymorphic moulding machines themselves available to customers we will be able to get the technology used by more companies much more quickly and ultimately patients will benefit faster.