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Diabetik Foot Care India: Specialising in Diabetes Care

A flagship company of Madras Engineering Services, Diabetik Foot Care India has many products matching international standards, finds K Deepalakshmi

"Our development team is working on a new model for complete vascular screening which will be an import substitution" - Elango Devy Chief Promoter Madras Engineering Services (MES)

Diabetik Foot Care India (DFCI) began as product division of Madras Engineering Services (MES), a Chennai based leading manufacturer, developer and distributor of medical electronic equipments.

The Journey

Elango Devy, the chief promoter of MES, completed his Masters in Applied Electronics from College of Engineering, Anna University in 1982 and joined an NRI based medical equipment manufacturing company as a Development Engineer. After six years, he started ‘Madras Engineering Services’ in 1990. "We started with the manufacture of manual single channel ECG machines and cardiac monitors. We added central monitoring systems and physiotherapy products," he says. "The idea of starting a specialised diabetic division was initiated by one our clients who is in this specialised field of diabetic foot management for more than 50 years," reveals Devy. Thus in 2002, a dedicated team started working in this division. Seeing the whopping response, MES was renamed Diabetik Foot Care India (DFCI) in 2005. The company present offers about 17 products in this segment and according to Devy, now covers the entire Indian territory.

The Products

DFCI offers products for vascular, neuropathy and foot care. Under Vascular Application, DFCI has six different models of vascular doppler matching international standards. "Our development team is working on a new model for complete vascular screening which will be an import substitution and when marketed would be available for less than the 50 per cent of the imported similar equipment," Devy claims.

Under the Neuropathy range, the company manufactures equipments to detect the loss of protective touch sensation, loss of vibration perception and thermal (both hot and cold) perception. They also have a product for the detection cardiac autonomic nervous dysfunction.

In Foot Care, the company offers products for the measurement of plantar pressure of a diabetic person. It is helpful in identifying the pressure area and by suitably modifying footwear, ulcer development can be prevented. It is also an educational tool for motivating patients to change from conventional to special footwear.

DFCI also produces professional electric pedicure file for taking care of the feet and nails.

Market Potential

Since most of their products are import substitutions, it takes time to build the market, considering that the product is new in the market. Participation at international conferences helped generate considerable enquiries and the company started looking at international market through active website promotion. "Presently our products are used in Denmark, USA, Nigeria, South Africa, China, UAE, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh," says Devy.

The company has recorded a steady growth of 15 per cent per year. It projects a 25 per cent growth this year due to increased product line and territory.

Email: k.deepalakshmi@expressindia.com