Thermology Health
New analysis commissioned by Thermology Health, a med-tech spin-out from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), has found that its technology for screening and detecting diabetic foot ulcers has the potential to improve patient outcomes and enable cost savings for the NHS of more than 200 million GBP each year over the next five years.
Diabetic Foot Ulcers, which often lead to amputations, is one of the biggest complications of diabetes. Currently a number of diabetic foot ulcers are discovered too late which leads to difficult treatment options and in 10 – 20% of cases leads to amputations.
The analysis by health technology consultancy Health Tech Enterprise shows that if implemented in the UK, Thermology Health’s technology has the potential to deliver a cost saving for the NHS of more than 200 million GBP annually within five years, as well as the prevention of 25,000 amputations over the next five years.
The NHS currently spends approximately 1.5 billion GBP per year on diabetic foot ulcers alone according to the company.
Over the next seven years the number of people with diabetes worldwide is set to grow by over 100 million, affecting 640 million people by 2030. Estimates indicate that 15-25 percent of people with diabetes are at high risk for ulcerations. Foot ulcers are one of the main complications of diabetes, which is one of the top three chronic diseases worldwide.
“It has been proven that there is the potential for over 60% reduction in ulcerations by using temperature as an early-warning indicator. Thermology Health’s technology relies on ultra-accurate temperature readings and AI analytics and will allow patients to scan their feet at home, with a report automatically sent to their clinician. This frequent remote monitoring will prevent ulceration and amputations. Currently accurate monitoring at home is needed by 1 million high-risk patients in the UK and 100 million worldwide," said Thermology Health CEO, Yuval Yashiv.
"We always knew that this technology has the potential to make a very material impact, both financially and for improved patient outcome. However, these studies quantify this impact and it’s astonishing to see the magnitude of the impact that it can have on the NHS and abroad.”
