According to the NHS, of the 4m people in the UK with diabetes, a quarter will develop a foot ulcer in their lifetime.
Treatment, including surgical intervention and orthotics, costs the NHS around £1bn a year.
Dr Alastair Buchanan, Managing Director of Cadscan, said it is a big problem, affecting a lot of people and it’s on the rise.
“The number of people with diabetes is going up for a variety of reasons,” he said. “And what is currently being done to bring that number down is not working.”
“According to a study by NICE, custom orthotics and footwear can reduce the chances of getting an ulcer by up to 60%. But the current solutions on offer from the NHS are costly and slow to produce, as well as being bulky, which means patients just aren’t using them.”
“Ultimately, you need to prevent ulceration in the first place. We set ourselves the challenge of coming up with something that is effective yet cheap, quick to make, slim, and easy to live with.”