During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Navy was tasked with patrolling more than 3,000 miles of rivers and canals in the Mekong Delta, searching for enemy weapons and supplies. Jesse Lee, a Navy veteran who served on small patrol boats, was injured not in the water, but on land.
“We got a call that some Marines were about to get overrun,” Lee recalled. “They were getting ambushed.”
Lee and his team rushed to the coast to provide medical support and backup. As he ran toward the scene, he stepped in a hole and severely injured his leg—snapping it backward and fracturing his knee. The injury ended his deployment, but it wasn’t the last wound the war would leave him.
Years later, Lee was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, a condition now linked to Agent Orange exposure. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officially recognized the connection in 2001, adding diabetes to its list of Agent Orange-related illnesses. Lee has managed the disease for two decades through diet, exercise, and blood sugar monitoring.
More recently, new technology has helped him—and many other veterans—manage the disease more safely. One tool in particular is helping prevent diabetic foot ulcers, which can lead to amputation or even death.
The VA has partnered with Podimetrics, a company that developed a device called the SmartMat. Veterans stand on the mat for just 30 seconds a day. It scans their feet for small temperature changes, a warning sign that an ulcer may be forming. These scans are automatically sent to VA health care providers, who can then intervene before the ulcer gets worse.
The technology is a breakthrough in diabetic care. Studies show that diabetic foot ulcers are more deadly than heart disease or stroke in veterans. Nearly half of veterans who develop a foot ulcer die within five years. One VA study found the number could be as high as 70%.
Roughly one in four veterans have diabetes, and diabetic foot ulcers cause 80% of non-traumatic amputations at the VA. That’s why early detection matters. For Lee, it has already made a difference.
“I think everybody that has diabetes should have one of them,” Lee said. “My ulcer came back and was no bigger than a BB, and that mat picked it up. The VA called me right away and made me an appointment with a podiatrist.”
Dr. Jon Bloom, CEO of Podimetrics and an anesthesiologist, has made it his mission to stop these amputations. His work is driven by personal experience: his father is a Vietnam veteran, and in medical school, he saw too many amputations happen too late. “I could spend whole days in the operating room doing nothing but amputations,” he said. “It was like a conveyor belt of Civil War-era medicine.”
Podimetrics now has SmartMats in 15,000 veterans’ homes. The device has passed multiple randomized controlled trials—the highest standard in medical research. Studies show it can detect 97% of foot ulcers five weeks before symptoms appear, cut hospitalizations by over 50%, and reduce emergency visits by 40%.
To expand access, Podimetrics partnered with the VA Office of Healthcare Innovation and Learning, which helps bring new technology into VA hospitals. The office also supports telehealth, virtual reality training for medical staff, and digital tools that improve patient care.
For Lee and thousands of others, the SmartMat may be the difference between keeping a foot—or losing it.
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