Temperature Sensing Insoles for Diabetic Foot Ulcer Diagnostics

Smart insoles, often based on printed electronics, are today state-of-the-art diagnosis tools for gait analysis. In this letter, we present the potential use of smart insoles in the field of diabetes diagnostics. We compare two smart shoe insoles for foot temperature, one fully printed and the other built using discrete negative temperature coefficient on printed foil, both capable of achieving a temperature accuracy below 0.5 °C. Temperature profiles are measured, and achievable accuracy and applicability for the prevention of foot ulcers caused by diabetes are discussed. In addition to the manufacturing concept, calibration and in situ insole measurements are presented.