Podiatry Commons^™

Glp-1 Receptor Agonists And Wound Healing In Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Scoping Review, Merlin Sajeev, Amanda L. Killeen

School of Podiatric Medicine - Student Research

Level of Evidence: Level 5

Poster Category: Non-sponsored

Introduction: Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are a major complication of diabetes and are associated with delayed wound healing, infection, amputation, and substantial morbidity. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) improve glycemic control and may influence inflammation, vascular function, and tissue repair. However, clinical evidence evaluating their relationship with DFU healing remains limited.

Aim: To characterize available clinical evidence examining the association between GLP-1 RA use and wound-healing outcomes in patients with diabetic foot ulcers.

Methods: PubMed and Google Scholar were searched for English-language studies published from 2021–2026 using terms combining “GLP-1 receptor …

Diabetes-Related Foot Complications And Socioeconomic Influences Among Hispanic Males In South Texas: A Scoping Review, Mariana J. Rodriguez, Demian Rodriguez, Amanda L. Killeen

School of Podiatric Medicine - Student Research

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is the 7^th leading cause of death in the United States and is 6^th in the state of Texas. Counties from South Texas are primarily affected with higher rates of diabetes than both the state and national average. Diabetes mellitus is a complex and progressive disease which can affect multiple systems of the body, leading to serious complications if untreated, especially in the lower extremities. Uncontrolled diabetes is often associated with diabetic foot ulcers (DFU), foot infections, and lower extremity amputations (LEA). South Texas is a region predominantly populated by Hispanic Americans who are disproportionally …

Diabetes-Related Foot Complications And Socioeconomic Influences Among Hispanic Males In South Texas: A Scoping Review, Mariana J. Rodriguez, Demian Rodriguez, Amanda Killeen

School of Podiatric Medicine Publications

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is the 7th leading cause of death in the U.S. and 6th in Texas. South Texas counties have higher diabetes rates than state and national averages. This complex, progressive disease affects multiple body systems and can lead to serious complications, especially in the lower extremities. Uncontrolled diabetes is often associated with diabetic foot ulcers (DFU), foot infections, and lower extremity amputations (LEA). South Texas, predominantly Hispanic American, is disproportionately affected. This demographic faces clinical barriers due to a lack of cultural understanding, highlighting the need for culturally sensitive healthcare workers such as promotoras. This study aimed to …

Diabetic Foot Ulcer Recurrence In Hispanic Americans: A Growing Concern, Daniela Lizbeth Avilez, Amanda Killeen

School of Podiatric Medicine - Student Research

Background: Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) represent a critical public health concern among Hispanic populations, contributing significantly to healthcare disparities and an elevated risk of amputations. Although Hispanic Americans account for 11.7% of the U.S. population with diabetes, they experience disproportionately higher rates of DFUs and amputations compared to non-Hispanic White individuals. Additionally, Hispanic adults exhibit lower rates of attempted revascularization, which exacerbates their susceptibility to severe complications. As the Hispanic population continues to grow, particularly in Texas, addressing DFU recurrence is crucial for improving clinical outcomes and reducing health inequities. This review evaluates evidence on DFU recurrence within Hispanic populations. …

Towards A Remote Patient Monitoring Platform For Comprehensive Risk Evaluations For People With Diabetic Foot Ulcers, Gozde Cay, M G Finco, Jason Garcia, Jill L Mcnitt-Gray, David G Armstrong, Bijan Najafi

Center on Aging Staff Publications

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) significantly affect the lives of patients and increase the risk of hospital stays and amputation. We suggest a remote monitoring platform for better DFU care. This system uses digital health metrics (scaled from 0 to 10, where higher scores indicate a greater risk of slow healing) to provide a comprehensive overview through a visual interface. The platform features smart offloading devices that capture behavioral metrics such as offloading adherence, daily steps, and cadence. Coupled with remotely measurable frailty and phenotypic metrics, it offers an in-depth patient profile. Additional demographic data, characteristics of the wound, and clinical …

Empowering Foot Health: Harnessing The Adaptive Weighted Sub-Gradient Convolutional Neural Network For Diabetic Foot Ulcer Classification, Abdullah Alqahtani, Shtwai Alsubai, Mohamudha Parveen Rahamathulla, Abdu Gumaei, Mohemmed Sha, Yu-Dong Zhang, Muhammad Attique Khan

School of Podiatric Medicine Publications

In recent times, DFU (diabetic foot ulcer) has become a universal health problem that affects many diabetes patients severely. DFU requires immediate proper treatment to avert amputation. Clinical examination of DFU is a tedious process and complex in nature. Concurrently, DL (deep learning) methodologies can show prominent outcomes in the classification of DFU because of their efficient learning capacity. Though traditional systems have tried using DL-based models to procure better performance, there is room for enhancement in accuracy. Therefore, the present study uses the AWSg-CNN (Adaptive Weighted Sub-gradient Convolutional Neural Network) method to classify DFU. A DFUC dataset is considered, …

Home-Based Electrical Stimulation To Accelerate Wound Healing-A Double-Blinded Randomized Control Trial, Alejandro Zulbaran-Rojas, Catherine Park, Nesreen El-Refaei, Brian Lepow, Bijan Najafi

Center on Aging Staff Publications

Background: Electrical stimulation (E-Stim) may offer a unique adjunctive treatment to heal complicated diabetic foot ulcers (DFU). Our primary goal is to examine the effectiveness of daily home-based E-Stim therapy to speed-up wound healing.

Methods: Patients with chronic DFUs and mild to severe peripheral arterial disease (PAD) were recruited and randomized to either control (CG) or intervention (IG) groups. The IG received 1-hour home-based E-Stim therapy on daily basis for 4 weeks (4W). E-Stim was delivered through electrical pads placed above the ankle joint using a bio-electric stimulation technology (BEST®) platform (Tennant Biomodulator® PRO). The CG was provided with an …

Smart Offloading Boot System For Remote Patient Monitoring: Toward Adherence Reinforcement And Proper Physical Activity Prescription For Diabetic Foot Ulcer Patients, Catherine Park, Ramkinker Mishra, Davide Vigano, Maurizio Macagno, Stefano Rossotti, Karen D'Huyvetter, Jason Garcia, David G Armstrong, Bijan Najafi

Center on Aging Staff Publications

Background: A critical factor in healing diabetic foot ulcers is patient adherence to offloading devices. We tested a smart offloading boot (SmartBoot) combined with a smartwatch app and cloud dashboard to remotely monitor patient adherence and activity. In addition, the impact of SmartBoot on balance, gait, and user experience was investigated.

Methods: Fourteen volunteers (31.6±8.7 years; 64% female) performed natural activities (eg, sitting, standing, walking) with and without the SmartBoot for approximately 30 minutes. All participants completed balance tests, 10-meter walking tests at slow, normal, and fast pace while wearing the SmartBoot, and a user experience questionnaire. The accuracy of …

The Effect Of Continuous Diffusion Of Oxygen Treatment On Cytokines, Perfusion, Bacterial Load, And Healing In Patients With Diabetic Foot Ulcers, Lawrence A. Lavery, Amanda L. Killeen, David Farrar, Yucel Akgul, Peter A. Crisologo, Matthew Malone, Kathryn E. Davis

School of Podiatric Medicine Publications

To evaluate continuous diffusion of oxygen therapy (CDO) on cytokines, perfusion, and bacterial load in diabetic foot ulcers we evaluated 23 patients for 3 weeks. Tissues biopsies were obtained at each visit to evaluate cytokines and quantitative bacterial cultures. Perfusion was measured with hyperspectral imaging and transcutaneous oxygen. We used paired T tests to compare continuous variables and independent T tests to compare healers and nonhealers. There was an increase from baseline to week 1 in TGF-β (P = .008), TNF-α (P = .014), VEGF (P = .008), PDGF (P = .087), and IGF-1 (P …

Lyopreserved Amniotic Membrane Is Cellularly And Clinically Similar To Cryopreserved Construct For Treating Foot Ulcers, Kathryn E. Davis, Amanda L. Killeen, David Farrar, Katherine M. Raspovic, Zachary D. Berriman-Rozen, Matthew Malone, Lawrence A. Lavery

School of Podiatric Medicine Publications

We compared cellular viability between cryopreserved and lyopreserved amniotic membranes and clinical outcomes of the lyopreserved construct in a prospective cohort study of 40 patients with neuropathic foot ulcers. Patients received weekly application of lyopreserved membrane for 12 weeks with standard weekly debridement and offloading. We evaluated the proportion of foot ulcers that closed, time to closure, closure trajectories, and infection during therapy. We used chi-square tests for dichotomous variables and independent t-tests for continuous variables with an alpha of α = .10. Cellular viability was equivalent between cryo- and lyopreserved amniotic tissues. Clinically, 48% of subjects' wounds closed in …