A review on early detection of diabetic foot ulcers: From clinical practices and sensor-based research to system-level perspectives

Diabetes mellitus is a global public health threat, and the prevalence continues to rise. Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), one of the most common and serious complications of diabetes, have a high recurrence rate and may lead to amputation. This will cause physical and psychological harm to the patients, and induce economic burden on the family and the society. Therefore, early monitoring and prevention of DFU is particularly important. In this review, we summarize the cutting-edge approaches for the early detection of DFU, including clinical practices and sensor-based research developments. The focus is on reviewing methods in the research fields and categorizing them according to the monitoring parameters. Then an early DFU monitoring system architecture is proposed. Meanwhile, we highlight the challenges of the early detection of DFU methods and system based on the review and propose suggestions on sensor design and development of the monitoring system.