Date of Award

2012-01-01

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Electrical Engineering

Advisor(s)

Thompson Sarkodie-Gyan

Abstract

The diabetic foot is one of the most feared complications of diabetes [3]. Causes of a diabetic foot come from many disorders including diabetic neuropathy, peripheral vascular disease, charcot's neuropathy, foot ulceration, and limb amputation [4]. Statistics have revealed that 8.3 percent of population in the U.S. is affected by diabetes in 2010, i.e., 25.8 million people. About 60 percent to 70 percent of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of nervous system damage [13]. There is an enormous impact on the physical and mental health of patients who suffer from diabetes.

This research was to determine the dynamic behavior that can provide a quantitative assessment with fuzzy similarity which will help medical doctors by providing quantitative comparison between healthy and diabetic subjects. The ground reaction forces were obtained from an instrumented treadmill from Bertec, muscle activity was obtained using 16 wireless sensors from DELSYS, lower extremity angle measurement (Joint Kinematics) was obtained by LIMA Smart Goniometer designed at LIMA Lab at UTEP, foot sole pressure was obtained using F-scan system by TEKSCAN and finally, a monofilament test was performed using a Semmes-Weinstein monofilament set. With this study the diabetic patients' quality of life (QOL) is improved.

Language

en

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Size

111 pages

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Luis G. Sagarnaga Lopez

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