Based on the hypothesis that diabetic foot lesions have a mechanical etiology, extensive efforts have sought to establish a relationship between ulcer occurrence and plantar pressure distribution. However, these factors are still not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to simultaneously record shear and pressure distributions in the heel and forefoot and to answer whether: (i) peak pressure and peak shear for anterior-posterior (AP) and medio-lateral (ML) occur at different locations, and if (ii) peak pressure is always centrally located between sites of maximum AP and ML shear stresses. A custom built system was used to collect shear and pressure data simultaneously on 11 subjects using the 2-step method. The peak pressure was found to be 362 kPa ±106 in the heel and 527 kPa ± 123 in the forefoot. In addition, the average peak shear values were higher in the forefoot than in the heel. The greatest shear on the plantar surface of the forefoot occurred in the anterior direction (mean and std dev: 37.7 ±7.6 kPa), whereas for the heel, peak shear on the foot was in the posterior direction (21.2 ±5 kPa). The results of this study suggest that the interactions of the shear forces caused greater “spreading” in the forefoot and greater tissue “dragging” in the heel. The results also showed that peak shear stresses do not occur at the same site or time as peak pressure. This may be an important factor in locating where skin breakdown occurs in patients at high-risk for ulceration.

In certain populations, open heart surgery to replace a diseased mitral valve is not an option, leaving percutaneous delivery a viable alternative. However, a surgical transcatheter based delivery of a metallic support frame incorporating a tissue derived valve puts considerable constraints on device specifications. Expansion to a large diameter from the catheter diameter without mechanical fracture involves advanced device design and appropriate material processing and selection. In this study, a new frame concept is presented with a desirable feature that incorporates wings that protrude during expansion to establish adequate fixation. Expansion characteristics of the design in relation to annulus fixation were quantified through finite element analysis predictions of the frame wing span and angles. Computational modeling and simulation was used to identify many favorable design features for the transcatheter mitral valve frame and obtain desired expansion diameters (35–45mm), acceptable radial stiffness (2.7N/mm), and ensure limited risk of failure based on predicted plastic deformations.