Study of the plantar pressure distribution on the sole of the foot of normal and diabetic subjects in the early stages by using a hydrocell pressure sensor

Diabetes is an illness whose incidence has significantly increased through the last decades. Approximately 30 million people affected by this illness live in America[l). In countries such as Mexico, the prevalence is in the order of 14.1% [2], in Ecuador reaches 15.36% [1], and in Colombia 7% was reported [3]. Diabetes brings with it neurovascular complications that alter the normal biomechanics of the foot, producing high pressure areas at the metatarsal heads, heel and toe regions that lead to the lower limb amputation [4]. For this reason it is of vital importance to identify these areas using pressure measurements in order to prevent foot injuries, using customised insoles to redistribute the areas of the areas of high plantar pressure during the patient´s gait. A descriptive study of the distribution behavior of pressures on the sole of the foot, in static position and during gait, in 42 normal patients and 37 diabetic patients (12 with type I diabetes and 25 with type II diabetes), with the purpose of establishing if statistically significant differences existed between the groups and which the pressures distribution pattern was in both cases.