Digital foot care—leveraging digital health to extend ulcer-free days in remission

Abstract Failure to heal a diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a leading cause of hospitalization worldwide, amputation, disability, and death among people with diabetes. Unfortunately, even after the resolution of a foot ulcer, recurrence is common and is estimated to be 40% within 1 year. Therefore our efforts should be not only toward rapid healing of open wounds but also maximizing ulcer-free days for the patient in diabetic foot remission. Fortunately, recent exciting developments in digital health have opened an opportunity for creative solutions to prevent this devastating condition and promote ulcer-free days. These technologies could allow care providers to deliver timely and personalized care and empower patient’s central role and responsibility in enabling an optimized health-care ecosystem for better management of DFUs and their recurrence. This chapter overviews the development of digital health, wearables, Internet of Things, and voice-activated command technology for improvement of managing DFUs.