The Jain Institute of Vascular Sciences, a unit of the Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital, has acquired a computerised foot scanner, which can carry out the 'Emed Planter Pressure Measurement System' to calculate the risk factor in patients with diabetes foot problems.

The scanner is available for the first time in Bangalore, measures altered foot pressures, especially in diabetes. The procedure referred to as 'Pedography' can predict the future development of ulcer in a foot. If not prevented, it can lead to serious complications in a diabetic patient and may even lead to amputation of the foot.

Dr. A S Vinaya, co-ordinator, foot clinic at the Jain Institute of Vascular Sciences said that the scanner could also be used to measure the pressures when a person was standing or walking. Special shoes could be designed for a person who needed them.

In 2001, the state-of-the-art foot care clinic, the only one of its kind in the city to cater to foot diseases particularly related to diabetes was opened. There are about three crore diabetics in the country and about eight lakh patients in Bangalore alone which constitutes about 13 per cent of the population. Close to 40 per cent of the diabetic related hospitalisations are related foot problems.

There are approximately about 32,000 diabetics developing foot problems, every year and a significant number of these ends up in amputations. A majority of foot problems can be solved with quality foot care and proper footwear.

"We also deal with more common problems such as corns, callousness and fallen arch and chronic foot pain, said Dr. Vinaya.

The 200-bed Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital, which is located in the heart of the city, was set up in 1975 under the aegis of the Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Trust.