Engineering students at Jackson State University have designed a “smart mat” that gauges foot temperature of diabetics to help thwart the danger of lower extremity amputations – particularly in Mississippi, where the risk is greater, according to the CDC.
The Mississippi Department of Health said the Magnolia state ranked second in the nation for prevalence of diabetes in 2012. Accordingly, four of every 1,000 deaths resulted from complications of the disease.
As part of their senior design project, JSU students in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology recently created the temperature-measuring device.
For one group member, the “smart mat” project is personal.
Jann Butler, a senior computer engineering student, said ulcers led to his aunt’s amputation.
“As a result, we wanted to help other diabetic patients,” he said. “Upon research, we realized that a lot of them suffer foot ulcers, and we uncovered an issue with temperature. So, we developed a mat that diabetic patients could stand on to register the temperature of their feet. If there’s a four-degree difference between the two over a period of time, the lower one would be at greater risk of ulceration,” he said.
Read full via JSU News
