Suffering from diabetic neuropathy can be a real nightmare, but some engineering students from Rice University (USA) have created a device that could revolutionize the lives of those affected: it's called StimuSock. It is a wearable insole that combines the transcutaneous electrical stimulation nerve therapy (TENS) to block pain signals to the brain and vibration therapy to improve balance.
A pain relief insole
Unlike drugs or bulky vibration devices on the market today, StimuSock is portable and extremely simple to use. The research team worked to create a user-friendly design, with the aim of making the device comfortable to wear throughout the day. Just like a normal shoe insole! Yannie Guo e Abby Dowse, two of the researchers involved in the project, underline how the device manages to combine two highly effective therapies in a single object which is not only absolutely non-invasive, but which with a few improvements can even become extremely comfortable.
Benefits under control
The technological insole can be managed via the usual, inevitable smartphone app which allows patients to control the type, intensity and duration of the therapeutic stimulus. Plus: it also allows you to select the specific areas of the foot on which to act. To be specific, Stimusock stimulates three regions of the foot: the front, middle and back of the midsole.
In the presentation, held yesterday, the team has already presented the final base design. It has a battery that lasts long enough to provide up to four 30-minute TENS therapy sessions per day. And that it operates on standby for the rest of the day.
I see this as a great step forward in the treatment of diabetic neuropathy, a condition that affects up to half of people with diabetes. This "simple" insole could greatly improve the quality of life of an (unfortunately) enormous number of people around the world: nearly 400 million.
