Feet of Engineering with Michael DiTullo and Jason Hanft

About This Episode

Can a shoe design save your life? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly explore how industrial engineering can help save the lives– and feet– of thousands with diabetes, with industrial engineer Michael DiTullo and foot and ankle surgeon, Dr. Jason Hanft. 

What links diabetes, amputations, and sneaker design together? How does diabetes get to the point where a patient needs to get their foot amputated? Learn about circulation, myelin sheaths, and what goes wrong in the nervous system. How do you prevent a patient from needing to get their foot amputated? How common is it? 

Discover industrial design and the scientific thought behind everyday objects. Find out how designing Air Jordans can help in designing a medical device. How do you design a sports shoe? How do you design a shoe for an athlete versus someone with a specific disability? We get into the biomechanics of the human leg and how to alter that using a mixture of material science and engineering. We talk about shock absorbing materials and how to dissipate the force of a foot hitting the ground. How has intuitive design changed our lives?

How frequent are diabetes-related foot amputations? How much do amputations cost the healthcare system per year? Could diabetic nerve damage prove deadly? We break down some of the stigmas behind diabetes-related nerve damage and how we can get more people to seek help. How do you train a medical device factory to make a sneaker? We go Reebok-retro and discover other features you might want to have on a medical boot. Lastly, are Neil, Chuck, and Gary turning into sneakerheads? 

NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free.