Mobile Application
for Ulcer Detection
Abstract
Purpose:
The number of patients who are suffering from dia-
betes nowadays is increasing significantly. In some
countries, the percentage of population who suffer
from this disease can reach up to 20%. Diabetic
patients have to deal with their medical conditions
and any further complications that this disease
may cause. One of the most common conditions is
the Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU). The early detection of
these ulcers can help and may save the life of dia-
betic patients.
Methods:
This work proposes a mobile application for the
detection of possible ulcers using a smart phone
along with a mobile thermal camera (FLIR ONE). The
proposed system captures thermal images of the
feet from the thermal camera. The app that identifies
ulcers was built using Android studio. The images
were acquired to the Samsung S6 smart phone using
the FLIR ONE SDK. Image processing techniques
were deployed based on Open CV Library. The proce-
dure of detecting possible ulcers was implemented
based on analyzing the thermal distribution on
the two feet. The developed application compares
the difference between the temperature distribu-
tion on the two feet and checks if there is a Mean
Temperature Difference (MTD) greater than 2.2oC
(the value which indicates a possible ulcer develop-
ment).
Results:
The system was tested under simulated conditions
by heating different locations of the subjects’ feet to
different temperature ranges; one image with tem-
perature less than 2.2oC and another three images
with temperature greater than 2.2oC. The system has
successfully identified possible ulcer regions along
with an image showing the location of the possible
ulcers.
Conclusions:
This work is a very first step in developing a com-
plete mobile thermal imaging system that can be
validated clinically in the future.
By Luay Fraiwan, Jolu Ninan and Mohanad Al-Khodari
Current Pedorthics | January/Feburary 2020
17