A new AI-powered device developed by an Israeli medical technology startup could help to reduce the number of limb amputations resulting from diabetic foot ulcers.
One of the most serious and costly complications associated with diabetes, diabetic foot ulcers can develop as a result of nerve damage, poor circulation, and high blood sugar and can pose a high infection risk.
Now, an Israeli medical device company, TriO has announced the creation of a product that combines three established treatment methods for the condition into a single system designed to accelerate wound healing and lower the risk of amputation.
The company recently received regulatory approval to market the device – named Fitt – in Israel and is now preparing to expand internationally.
In 2021, more than 537 million adults worldwide were living with diabetes, according to an International Diabetes Federation study published in the Lancet medical journal. Around one in four of these individuals is expected to develop a diabetic foot ulcer during their lifetime.
Diabetic foot ulcers are a leading cause of hospitalisation, infection and lower-limb amputation among patients with diabetes, costing healthcare services billions of pounds every year.
Rather than relying on several separate treatments, Fitt combines negative pressure therapy to improve blood flow, compression to reduce swelling and oxygen and ozone disinfection, alongside an artificial intelligence-based control system that monitors treatment.
The company was founded by Ronen Ben-Ari, a business executive, Anat Eshed-Glaser, a former senior executive at Johnson & Johnson's Biosense Webster, and inventor Kfir Weinstein.
Weinstein, who spent years working with diabetic patients in hospitals, began developing the technology after questioning why many people with foot ulcers endured lengthy hospital stays yet still progressed to amputation.
The clinical development is being led by Dr Zeev Feldbrin, former director of the diabetic foot unit at Jerusalem’s Wolfson Medical Centre, with input from Dr Ronen Rosenblum, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School who specialises in healthcare innovation.
The technology has already been granted patents in the United States and Japan.
The company believes its integrated approach could simplify care, reduce complications and improve the lives of millions of diabetic patients worldwide.
Larger clinical studies are needed to examine whether the device delivers improved outcomes compared with existing treatments.
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