The diabetic foot is one of the most serious complications of diabetes mellitus. A well-designed footwear can effectively relieve the plantar pressure and optimize the pressure redistribution, to reduce the incidence of foot ulcers and amputation, and improve the health of the foot tissue and the quality of life in diabetics. This paper reviews the pre-clinical diagnosis of the diabetic foot, the design principles and the manufacturing technology of the diabetic foot orthoses, and related clinical effects. It is found that the current diabetic foot orthoses are mainly designed for optimizing the distribution of the plantar pressure, but without a proper physiological evaluation and an active protection, which should be considered in the further design of intelligent technical aids for the diabetic foot.

diabetic foot  /  foot orthosis  /  pressure offloading  /  intelligent technical aids