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. 2017 Feb 6:7:42124.
doi: 10.1038/srep42124.

Terahertz imaging for early screening of diabetic foot syndrome: A proof of concept

G G Hernandez-Cardoso  1 , S C Rojas-Landeros  1 , M Alfaro-Gomez  1   2 , A I Hernandez-Serrano  1 , I Salas-Gutierrez  3 , E Lemus-Bedolla  4 , A R Castillo-Guzman  4 , H L Lopez-Lemus  4 , E Castro-Camus  1
Affiliations

Terahertz imaging for early screening of diabetic foot syndrome: A proof of concept

G G Hernandez-Cardoso et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Most people with diabetes suffer some deterioration of the feet. Diabetic foot syndrome causes ulceration in about 15% of cases and such deterioration leads to amputation in about 2.5% of diabetic patients, diminishing their quality of life and generating extraordinary costs for patients and public health systems. Currently, there is no objective method for the detection of diabetic foot syndrome in its early stages. We propose terahertz imaging as a method for the evaluation of such deterioration. This screening method could aid the prevention and medical treatment of this condition in the future.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Terahertz setup design. (b) Photograph of the setup once assembled while being tested. (c) Schematic representation of the raster-scanning imaging array which is placed on the platform under the windows as indicated in (a).
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Terahertz image of a typical member of the control group. (b) Terahertz image of a typical member of the diabetic group. Volumetric fraction of water for control group members and diabetics (c) averaged over the foot sole, (d) at the center of the greater toe and (e) at the center of the heel. Each point represents a subject.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The statistical distribution of both the diabetic (squares) and control (circles) groups is shown in the plots for the average water content across the sole (a), the greater toe (b) and the heel (c). The dashed lines are gaussian fits to the data, and the mean and standard deviation of the fits are provided in each plot. Panels (d–f) are the Receiver Operating Characteristic curves which are used to define the threshold values for diagnostic tests for the average, toe and heel measurements.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Complex dielectric function of dehydrated human skin, the continuous curves are second order polynomials fit to the data which are valid between 0.2 THz and 0.9 THz.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Complex dielectric function of human skin for various volumetric fractions of water.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Ray schematic of the terahertz radiation path.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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