Project technical report on the designing and development of a low-cost vibrating foot massager to prevent food ulceration in stage 4 patients with type2 diabetes

Abstract

This report is divided into four comprehensive chapters and it encompasses the technical aspects of the activities performed by team Biotailors during the entire Design course. The design process started with identifying health related problems from which we narrowed down to foot ulceration in stage 4 type Il diabetic patients and development of a low-cost vibrating massager as a solution. Diabetic foot complications are the most common cause of nontraumatic lower extremity amputations in the world. The risk of lower extremity amputation is higher in diabetics than in persons who do not have diabetes mellitus. Furthermore, foot complications are the most frequent reason for hospitalization in patients with diabetes. Diabetic neuropathy is the impact of diabetes on the nervous system, most commonly causing numbness, tingling and pain in the feet and also increasing the risk of skin damage due to altered sensation. Early detection and appropriate treatment of these ulcers may prevent up to 85 percent of amputations. The purpose of this report is to document the design process of a low-cost vibrating massager that will prevent the occurrence of wounds on the feet of patients in stage 2 of diabetic mellitus. Development of a low-cost vibrating massager started with prototyping a device with its major components being the Arduino Nano microcontroller which controls the interval of vibrations from the disc-shaped vibrating motors, three vibrating motors positioned at the high-pressure regions of the foot, potentiometer to vary the amplitude of vibration, a resistor, transistor and a vibrating medium to disperse the vibration along the foot. Preclinical tests were then carried out on the device and these included; vibration range test, battery capacity test, stress analysis test and user based evaluation tests. Results were recorded and discussions formulated to identify areas that need improvement during the redesigning process. It can be concluded that low -mechanical vibrations of suitable frequency and subjected within a given time interval for specific period to diabetic patient in stage 2 can prevent the occurrence or heal wound in their feet as result of diabetic neuropathy and vascular breakdown.