Chennai, March 11: Pedopowergraph, a state-of-the-art low cost device, the first of its kind in the country, which will save diabetes patients from amputation of their feet, was launched at the Sundaram Medical Foundation here on Sunday. The equipment is the result of a joint research initiative by the SMF, Indian Institute of Technology-Madras and Brakes India Ltd, an automobile component manufacturer in the city suburbs. “Though diabetes has emerged as a major threat in the country, we are yet to understand the repercussions of this dreaded disease. Nearly 15 per cent of diabetes patients are prone to ulcers of the feet, which if not cured in time will lead to amputation. It was this scenario that made us to come out with the pedopowergraph,†said Dr Arjun Rajagopalan, medical director and trustee of the SMF. Explaining the features of the device, which costs Rs 3 lakh, Dr Rajagopalan said it would photograph the feet and transfer the pictures to a computer. “The computer has a software that will analyse the pictures and give colour codes to the ulcer-afflicted feet depending on its intensity,†he explained. He said based on the pattern of the colour, the physicians can prescribe the footwear. “We suggest two kinds of footwear for diabetes patients depending on the gravity of the ulcer in their feet. Preventive footwear is available off the shelf while for more serious ulcers, we prescribe curative footwear,†said Dr Rajagoplan. The Biomedical Engineering Division of IIT-M under the leadership of Dr K.M. Patil has designed and built the pedopowergraph. Dr V.B. Narayanamurthy and Dr R. Parivalavan, who are both surgeons at the SMF, provided the clinical input for the research and development work, according to Dr Rajagopal. He said a diagnosis using the device hardly costs Rs 350, while a single routine check up and treatment for foot disease arising out of diabetes costs Rs 50,000. Gaitonde, the well-known shoemakers in Chennai, manufactures the preventive and curative footwear.