The poster presentation entitled 'Establishing Normative Thermal Pattern Data for the Hands and Feet: A First Step in developing a Diabetes Thermography Protocol' was awarded first prize at the 13th annual meeting of the Diabetes Foot Study Group of the EASD (European Association for the Study of Diabetes), held in Stuttgart between 9 and 11 September.
The poster, by Dr Alfred Gatt and Dr Cynthia Formosa, submitted on behalf of the Diabetes Foot Research Group at the University of Malta, describes the established normative medical infrared imaging data in the hands and feet of healthy adults. During the presentation, Dr Gatt emphasized that this is an established baseline against which further research in diabetes, peripheral vascular disease and neuropathy can be compared. Dr Cynthia Formosa, Head of the Department of Podiatry within the Faculty of Health Sciences, who accompanied Dr Gatt, pointed out that this research earmarks an important achievement reached by the Group in the emergent field of thermographic imaging in diabetes.
This study, the initial part of a larger research programme, is funded by the MCST (Malta Council for Science and Technology). The researchers involved in the project are Alfred Gatt, Cynthia Formosa, Kevin Cassar, Kenneth Camilleri, Clifford De Raffaele, Anabelle Mizzi, Carl Azzopardi, Stephen Mizzi, Owen Falzon, Stefania Christina, Nachiappan Chockalingham.
