Research database

Wearable devices are considered the next-generation tools due to the important role that they can hold in monitoring different physiological conditions coupled with their intriguing characteristics such as flexibility and stretchability. A wide variety of these of devices have been proposed and, among them, one important example in the medical field is represented by sensing insoles able to monitor the physiological conditions that can lead to the formation of foot ulcers in diabetic patients. It has been proven that controlling foot condition in diabetic patients, in terms of applied pressure and local temperature, helps to prevent the formation or worsening of ulcer which can even cause the limb amputation. Nevertheless, the simple monitoring cannot solve the problem, the correction of the foot posture with the relieve of the pressure is needed. Despite this awareness, a device able to monitor and actively correct the patient foot pressure is still lacking. For this reason, a complete system which can guarantee a fully conformable sensing and correction of non physiological foot weight distribution will represent a breakthrough in the care of diabetic patients. In this frame, the objective of PASSO is the development of a smart active insole able, through a sensing layer, to detect the physical parameters in terms of local pressure and temperature, which underline a non physiological weight distribution and then to directly correct the posture by an active layer composed of multiple air cavities which can be inflated or deflated, changing the local conformation and thus the local pressure. The key advantage of our proposal is that the device will be developed exploiting the great flexibility of design given by 3D printing (3DP) techniques, allowing the patient-tailored production of the conformable insole. Indeed, 3DP is known to provide a facile customization of the products and can be envisaged paired with imaging techniques enabling a reverse engineering process: models specifically designed on the patient’s body can be reproduced on-demand by 3DP, allowing the production of unique devices with increased sensitivity. In detail, vat 3DP will be used, representing a valuable instrument in the development of tailor-made objects for its high precision and great flexibility in the design of functional materials. Gathering the possibility to create unique and customized designs and the ability to develop functional materials able to offer sensitivity and flexibility, 3DP results the enabling technology for the development of highly performing smart and active insoles. At last, aiming to overcome the power supply problem, 3D printed triboelectric nanogenerators to harvest mechanical energy during walking and convert it in electrical energy will also be studied and integrated in the system. PASSO is an ambitious project that, exploiting cutting-edge technologies as 3D printing and sensor fabrication and integration, will offer forefront results that will have a strong impact from the academic and medical level to the commercial one.