Project supervisor (s) and contact details Dr Venky Dubey (email: vdubey<στο>bournemouth.ac.uk)  

Recent figures from the World Health Organisation indicate that the prevalence of diabetes mellitus is approaching two million in the United Kingdom and continuing to rise. An estimated 5% (50,000) of the total diabetic population are affected by foot ulcers. Approximately 60% are classified as neuropathic ulcers, which tend to occur on the sole of the foot. Plantar ulcers are subject to continuing trauma and there is significant risk of infection spreading through the foot and lower limb. Complications arising from diabetic foot ulcers are the largest single cause of below knee amputations in the UK. There is a significant impact on the quality of life and treatment is estimated to cost the NHS £13 million per annum. To reduce the social and economic impact, early identification of risk factors is essential, however, there is no single unified approach to assess onset of neuropathy. This project aims to tackle this problem by developing a smart medical device for comprehensive clinical assessment of peripheral neuropathy. This could significantly save potential treatment costs by early management of neuropathy and improve quality of life before progressing to a dangerous level.

The project will look at three different aspects in this research namely the development of appropriate technologies for clinical assessment of neuropathy-this could be in the form of vibratoty or electrical stimulation, creation of knowledge base on patient data and intelligent interface for wireless data transfer. This will generate patient specific knowledge for assessment of neuropathy based on age, height, weight and clinical history of the patient i.e. intelligent processing of data for early diagnosis.Only candidates with engineering background and good programming skills need apply for this position, clinical experience of working with patients will be an added advantage.

This project will provide an excellent training opportunity to the student undertaking this research in the field of Biomedical Engineering and medical device development. This will be supported by the existing collaboration of the principal investigator with Columbia University and University of Minnesota (USA) in the area of biomedical engineering. This will be further supported by our ongoing collaborative research with the Royal Bournemouth Hospital. In addition, this project will further provide opportunity to work closely with clinicians to tackle important health care problems. Due to the nature of the project it will provide a unique training opportunity in multidisciplinary areas combining mechanical & electrical engineering, sensing/actuation technology and an appreciation of clinical practices. Additionally there are number of training opportunities available throughout the year on research methods, skills training and teaching and learning experience within the university. The student will be encouraged to attend such training and developmental courses and will be supported for attending conferences and publish their research in academic journals. This will provide personal and professional development to the student undertaking this research.

All candidates must satisfy the University’s minimum doctoral entry criteria for studentships of an honours degree at Upper Second Class (2:1) and/or an appropriate Masters degree.

An IELTS (Academic) score of 6.5 minimum (or equivalent) is essential for candidates for whom English is not their first language

Only candidates with engineering background and good programming skills need apply for this position, clinical experience of working with patients will be an added advantage.