Nike+D

Using the Nike+ technology as a platform,

we take it one step further with Nike+D,
the first smart shoe for people with
diabetes to give instant foot pressure
feedback.
Each year in the United
States, nearly 100,000 limb
Why? amputations are performed
on individuals with diabetes.1
Lower extremity ulcers occur
in 4-10% of people with
diabetes, with a lifetime risk
as high as 25%.2 Note: Higher Plantar pressures in Diabetic Patient from:
Marco P. Schoen, Ajay Mahajan, “Diabetic Foot,”
Giving people the easy to use tools with Distributed Diagnosis and Home Healthcare, by American
Scientific Press.
timely feedback is the best prevention. Ulcer Image from Healthwise

David Rosenthal MD
physician
dirosent@post.harvard.edu

Michael Beltran
mechanical engineer
mbeltran@northwestern.edu

1. Brem H, Sheehan P, Boulton AJ: Protocol for treatment of diabetic foot ulcers. Am J Surg 187: 1S–10S, 2004
2. Singh N, Armstrong DG, Lipsky BA: Preventing foot ulcers in patients with diabetes. JAMA 293: 217–228,
2005

1
 It’s only your feet, right?
Annual cost of diabetic foot ulcer care is $5 billion direct cost, $400m indirect1

Patients' vigilance and better medical care could prevent 90% of diabetes-related
amputations 2

Footwear and offloading techniques are commonly used in treatment and prevention of
foot ulcers in diabetics to reduce plantar pressure 3

But how do I know if my feet are at risk?

You don’t know unless you measure it!

Same great features The status quo

Built on top of the Nike+ platform,
Nike+D has all the same great
benefits and features of Nike+.
Calculates your distance, your speed,
your calories burned, and can even
map your run on the Nike+ website.
You can easily synch it with your
ipod and get your favorite music for
your workout. Seemlessly integrating
and encouraging your diabetes
exercise goals with the ability to
monitor your foot pressures for
dangerously high plantar pressures.
Current technology exists for
measuring plantar pressures in
people with diabetes. Most
involve wired pressure sensors in
socks or shoes (as pictured above).
With Nike+D, we have integrated
the pressure sensors into a
friendly, very successful consumer
The mechanics
device that will make checking The device features
and tracking foot pressures as piezoelectric pressure
simple as listening to mp3s. sensors which require little
power source. The device
can be developed either with
multiple Nike+ transponders

Nike+D L 274
or with a single insole with
the piezoelectric material.
Future low-cost sensors
(temperature, humidity) can
be built into the platform.
1. Bloomgarden ZT: Nephropathy and neuropathy. American Diabetes Association Annual Meeting, 1999.
Diabetes Care 2000; 23:549-556
2. Anon. 2009. Trying to save diabetic feet. The Los Angeles Times, March 22, sec.
3. Booster Shots: The Times health blog. http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-diabetes-
amputation22-2009mar22,0,7024042.story.