Within the United States alone, 30 million people suffer from diabetes. In both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, foot ulcers are a common and often devastating complication arising due to reduced blood flow in the feet.
 
 This preventable condition can be extremely painful and serious, and in some cases, can only be treated by amputating the toe or foot. In the US alone, approximately 70,000 diabetic individuals lose limbs every year, which costs the healthcare system an estimated $15 billion.
 
With that in mind, Bonbouton was born to utilize preventive medicine and enable better health and wellbeing for diabetes care.
 
Linh Le, Bonbouton’s founder and CEO, studied graphene printing technology as a doctoral student – research that led to the inkjet printing method of fabricating Bonbouton’s graphene thermal sensors. These sensors are the key ingredient in the Bonbouton smart insole, which detects early signs of foot ulcers in people living with diabetes.
 
“Graphene technology has large potential when it comes to managing chronic pain and other healthcare conditions and enabling people to track health information and better understand their diabetes through the Bonbouton app,” Le noted.
 
Bonbouton’s Technology 
 
The graphene technology has allowed Bonbouton to emerge as an industry leader in microsensor technology. The insole contains mechanically flexible and molecularly thin sensors for monitoring skin temperature with graphene oxide (GO).
 
“One of the first major indicators that a foot ulcer is forming is changes in skin temperature,” said Le. “When someone is wearing the Bonbouton insole, if a change in temperature is detected, the person will receive an alert on their smartphone through our app. Depending on the severity, they will be asked to take a photo of their foot to send to someone in their care network, run through a safety checklist, or go to a podiatrist as soon as possible.
 
The insoles contain graphene, which is comprised of single layers of strongly-bonded carbon atoms; graphene sheets possess the properties of high mechanical strength and flexibility, making it possible to create very flexible and thin sensors. 
 
Importantly, graphene also exhibits high electrical and thermal conductivity. The insole constantly monitors foot temperature and pressure and sends this information in real-time to Bonbouton’s app, which stores detailed historical data that a patient, physician or caregiver can review. If the temperature or pressure discrepancies are detected, the patient is immediately notified and steps can be taken earlier in the treatment continuum to prevent the ulcer from developing.
 
The team believes that their early diagnostic tool will not only significantly reduce the need for foot amputations, but will also improve the mortality rate amongst diabetic patients
 
Le’s approach is not only proving that graphene can be applicable in the flex electronic industry by adding value as “another flex component,” but by also developing the product for end-users, especially in the highly regulated medical market. 
 
Bonbouton is also working on additional wearables. Its EMG sensors are designed to measure muscular contractions for athletes; this will help monitor performance, overall fitness as well as potential physical therapy. 
 
There is more for Bonbouton to accomplish. Aside from technical risks of proving the device actually works as intended, the team still needs to figure out manufacturing risks, and most importantly, market risk to validate how users would adopt the solution or subscribe to Bonbouton’s service. However, in this new era of remote monitoring and internet of things, many stakeholders in the medical market are moving to adopt these types of solutions and be more open-minded to partner with startups like Bonbouton.