Computational Intelligence in Detecting Abnormal Pressure in the Diabetic Foot

Background

Today’s ever-changing lifestyle has seen the manifestation of a diabetic epidemic become deeply ingrained into our society. The diabetic population has shifted over recent years towards being an alarmingly younger, and more overweight population. The growing incidence of diabetes diagnosis throughout the world has sparked many health concerns, instigating a wave of diabetic research to not only deal with the disease itself, but also the many consequent, and often quite debilitating, complications brought about by diabetes. Foot ulcers, in particular, have proven to be a great cause for concern as one of the most severe complications to affect diabetic individuals on a global scale. In fact foot ulcers can have detrimental effects on a diabetic patient’s wellbeing and quality of life. Moreover, management and treatment of these ulcers places a substantial financial burden on both patients and the healthcare system (Snyder & Hanft, 2009; Winkley et al., 2012; Winkley, Stahl, Chalder, Edmonds, & Ismail, 2009).