Pioneering Industry-Academia Collaboration to Advance AI-Driven Personalised Medical Devices

Activity: Engagement case studiesIndustry

Description

Diabetes-related foot disease (DFD) is a global issue, being the leading cause of hospitalisations, amputations, and presenting mortality rates comparable to those of many cancers. In Australia, DFD results in 27,600 public hospital admissions, 4,400 lower extremity amputations, 1,700 deaths, and a $1.6 billion annual cost to the health system. Remarkably, 80% of these amputations are preventable with best-practise treatment and ongoing management. However, poor adherence and a lack of personalised medical device design remain key problems. The factors considered when recommending personalised medical and assistive devices (such as orthopedic footwear, foot orthotics, ankle-foot orthoses, etc.) are highly varied among practising clinicians. This variation in practice can adversely impact patient adherence and result in poor clinical outcomes such as ulceration, lower limb amputation, permanent disability, or even death.

To address this challenge, in 2023, I secured the University’s first federal government grant, the Australian Government National Industry-Linked PhD grant, for a three-year project in partnership with Foot Balance Technology. The project, titled "Artificial Intelligence-Guided Personalised Medical and Assistive Device Prescription for Improving Clinical Outcomes and Adherence", aims to develop an innovative tool for the pedorthic industry. This tool will assist clinicians in prescribing personalized medical devices (such as orthopedic footwear, foot orthotics, ankle-foot orthoses, etc.) for patients with diabetic-related foot disease to enhance patient outcomes.

The achievement was highlighted in CSU News and featured on CSU's and the Pro-Vice Chancellor's LinkedIn pages. This achievement also led to my invitation as a speaker at the Australian National Pedorthic Conference 2023. I was also honoured with the Vice-Chancellor Research Excellence Award - Research Excellence through Partnership in 2023. Within the first six months, the project resulted in a Q1 journal publication in PLOS ONE and a book chapter.
Period2023 → …
Work forFoot Balance Techology Pty Ltd, Australia
Degree of RecognitionNational

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Decision Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Podiatry

Sustainable Development Goals

  • SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being
  • SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Countries where activity occurred

  • Australia