An Augmented Vision of Our Medical and Surgical Future, Today?

Incorporating consumer electronics into the operating room, we evaluated the Apple Vision Pro (AVP) during limb preservation surgeries, just as we evaluated Google Glass and FaceTime more than a decade ago. Although AVP's real-time mixed-reality data overlay and controls offer potential enhancements to surgical precision and team communication, our assessment recognized limitations in adapting consumer technology to clinical environments. The initial use facilitated intraoperative decision-making and educational interactions with trainees. The current mixed-reality pass-through resolution allows for input but not for highly dexterous surgical interactions. These early observations indicate that while AVP may soon improve aspects of surgical performance and education, further iteration, evaluation, and experience are needed to fully understand its impact on patient outcomes and to refine its integration into clinical practice.

Prescribing Home Digital Thermometry Coupled with Activity Dosing and Optimized Offloading to Prolong Diabetic Foot Remission: A Case Report.

People with a history of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) experience diminished health-related quality of life and are at a 40% annual risk of DFU recurrence. Due to a fear of DFU recurrence, people in DFU remission participate less in physical activity and moderate-intensity exercise when compared to people with diabetes who have not had wounds. There is novel evidence to suggest that too little activity during DFU remission contributes to only low magnitudes of repetitive tissue loading creating a higher susceptibility to skin trauma during inadvertent high-activity bouts. Conversely, a hasty return to too much activity could lead to rapid recurrence. There is now high-level evidence from multiple meta-analyses to indicate that home-based foot temperature monitoring, coupled with activity modification and daily inspection of the feet for impending signs of ulceration, could reduce the risk of ulcer recurrence by 50%. There is little evidence, however, to guide the decision-making regarding the appropriate quantity and frequency of physical activity during DFU remission and the acceptability from the patient perspective. This has resulted in limited uptake of this novel intervention in clinical practice. Earlier, we proposed that activity can be dosed for people in foot ulcer remission, just like insulin or medication is dosed. Here, we describe a patient-centered approach to implementing home foot temperature monitoring coupled with daily foot checks and dosage-based return to physical activity in a patient in DFU remission, including his perspective. We believe using such an approach could maximize ulcer-free days in remission, thereby improving quality of life.

Five year mortality and direct costs of care for people with diabetic foot complications are comparable to cancer.

BACKGROUND: In 2007, we reported a summary of data comparing diabetic foot complications to cancer. The purpose of this brief report was to refresh this with the best available data as they currently exist. Since that time, more reports have emerged both on cancer mortality and mortality associated with diabetic foot ulcer (DFU), Charcot arthropathy, and diabetes-associated lower extremity amputation. METHODS: We collected data reporting 5-year mortality from studies published following 2007 and calculated a pooled mean. We evaluated data from DFU, Charcot arthropathy and lower extremity amputation. We dichotomized high and low amputation as proximal and distal to the ankle, respectively. This was compared with cancer mortality as reported by the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute. RESULTS: Five year mortality for Charcot, DFU, minor and major amputations were 29.0, 30.5, 46.2 and 56.6%, respectively. This is compared to 9.0% for breast cancer and 80.0% for lung cancer. 5 year pooled mortality for all reported cancer was 31.0%. Direct costs of care for diabetes in general was $237 billion in 2017. This is compared to $80 billion for cancer in 2015. As up to one-third of the direct costs of care for diabetes may be attributed to the lower extremity, these are also readily comparable. CONCLUSION: Diabetic lower extremity complications remain enormously burdensome. Most notably, DFU and LEA appear to be more than just a marker of poor health. They are independent risk factors associated with premature death. While advances continue to improve outcomes of care for people with DFU and amputation, efforts should be directed at primary prevention as well as those for patients in diabetic foot ulcer remission to maximize ulcer-free, hospital-free and activity-rich days.

Quantitative Studies of Diabetic Foot Ulcer Evolution Under Treatment by Digital Stereotactic Photography.

BACKGROUND: Imaging the lower extremity reproducibly and accurately remains an elusive goal. This is particularly true in the high risk diabetic foot, where tissue loss, edema, and color changes are often concomitant. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility of a novel and inexpensive stereotaxic frame in assessment of wound healing. METHODS: The main idea is to keep constant and reproducible the relative position of extremities related to the sensor used for the examination during a serial studies by stereotaxic digital photographic sequence. Ten healthy volunteers were evaluated at 10 different time moments to estimate the foot position variations in the stereotaxic frame. The evolution of 40 of DFU patients under treatment was evaluated before and during the epidemical grow factor intralesional treatment. RESULTS: The wound closing and granulation speeds, the relative contribution of the contraction and tissue restauration mechanism were evaluated by stereotaxic digital photography. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that the stereotaxic frame is a robust platform for serial study of the evolution of wound healing which allow to obtain consistent information from a variety of visible and hyperspectral measurement technologies. New stereotaxic digital photography evidences related to the diabetic foot ulcer healing process under treatment has been presented.