Towards the Development of a Medical App for the Detection of Diabetic Foot Syndrome and Pressure Ulcers

Diabetic foot syndrome is a secondary disease of

diabetes mellitus that can lead to amputations, reduced

mobility and in some cases death if treatment is delayed. The

objective of this study was to collect user requirements for the

development of a shoe insole accompanied by a medical app

for continuous pressure measurement, applying a usercentered Design Thinking process. We conducted a systematic

competitor analysis and performed 10 context-interviews with

both health care professionals (HCPs) (n=7) and patients with

diabetic foot syndrome (n=3) at the University Hospital Graz

(Austria) and a medical supply store. Structured interview

guides, tailored to user groups were used for qualitative

interviews. Questionnaires on the acceptance of eHealth

applications were designed for quantitative analysis (n=14

patients, n=7 HCPs). The competitor analysis identified 12 inshoe-systems for plantar pressure measurement for patients

with diabetes. No current system on the EU market meets the

requirements of the users interviewed in this study.

Quantitative evaluation showed that 95% of future users

would support the use of a medical app to monitor plantar

pressure in patients with diabetic foot syndrome. Based on the

identified user requirements, a first user interface was

developed iteratively. Usability tests of the prototype resulted

in a score of 71.7 on the System Usability Scale. The medical

app will be further developed and tested in clinical studies.