Effectiveness of moulded insoles in reducing plantar pressure in diabetic patients.

For an effective prevention of foot sole ulcers in diabetic patients, the Bioengineering and Signal processing group of the Electronics Department of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana developed a novel method for the computer assisted design and production of therapeutic insoles, integrating several technologies, such as: CAD/CAM registration of pressure on the foot sole, Podoscopy, and an expert system based on knowledge. The afore mentioned method allows topographical modeling of the insoles starting by the digitization in 3D of a cast of the foot sole surface of the patient and its computer assisted design taking into account the recommendations of the knowledge based system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect on plantar pressure distribution of different insoles prescribed and manufactured with various techniques on a random group of patients with diabetes mellitus in the early stages of the disease. Four different types of insoles were manufactured by methods available in the market and by the computer model system proposed on a previous research, which was used in order to design and manufacture one of the insoles evaluated. The differences between the four types of insoles were established by comparing their effectiveness in plantar pressure reduction.