Analysis of knitted footwear linings for diabetic patients

Diabetes and arthritis are the most common chronic diseases in the world. Diabetes can damage many parts of the body, leading to severe cardiac conditions, strokes, visual impairment, impotence, renal and podiatric problems. Part of the problem is the loss of feeling in patients' feet and giving way to blisters or injuries resulting in deep sores (ulcers). Selection of adequate footwear plays an important role for diabetic and arthritis patients. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of fabric structure and yarn type on the performance and physical characteristics of the functional knitted fabrics that will be appropriate for footwear linings of patients with locomotor disorders caused by diabetes and arthritis. In order to determine related footwear standards, tensile strength, tensile elongation, water vapour permeability properties and physical parameters were measured and evaluated for the selection of the fabrics with optimum parameters.