A device created by Emblation, the Scottish healthtech firm, has helped a diabetic sufferer who was on the cusp of having both legs amputated below the knee.

Medics in Wales were only a few hours away from sanctioning the drastic surgery after Barry Mayled’s feet were plagued by “horrific” ulcers which steadily worsened—despite extensive and varied treatments.

At the 11th hour, the Welshman’s legs were saved, thanks to microwave treatment technology for skin lesions that helped revolutionise the podiatry sector.

Mr. Mayled, 73, an architect and garden designer from Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan, paid tribute to the Swift® device, invented by Stirling-based Emblation.

“It saved my life,” he said. “I’m still working and I’m on building sites and everything, and without my legs, that would have been the end of it. As a sole practitioner, my career would have ended if the amputations were carried out.

“At one point I was in hospital surrounded by medics and things were so bad that the main surgeon was just shaking his head. There was pretty much nothing left to try and it was a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’ my legs would have to be amputated below the knees.”

Leg amputations are a notorious complication of diabetes, which can cause reduced blood flow and nerve damage in the lower limbs. As a result, wounds, ulcers, and infections can become gangrenous.

In Mr. Mayled’s case, a simple verruca got out of control when the relatively harmless lesion became infected and ulcerated. It proved resistant to multiple treatments over four years. It then spread to both feet, with painful growths leaving him nearly unable to walk.

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As a last resort, a podiatrist embarked on a treatment with Swift®, which uses targeted low energy doses of microwaves to stimulate the immune system. After monthly treatments over a year, his feet were completely healed—a process captured in a series of photographs.

Barry underwent seven individual applications of the Swift® microwave treatment between July 2022 to April 2023, on five areas of his right foot and three on his left.

Swift® was developed in 2016 by scientists Gary Beale and Eamon McErlean who met while studying at Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University and went on to launch parent company, Emblation, which has its headquarters in Stirling.

Its device has been backed by healthtech investors and has been rolled out by podiatrists across the globe to treat verruca and plantar warts with over 350,000 treatments carried out to date.

The technology is also undergoing medical testing to establish its efficacy in treating a host of other conditions including precancerous and cancerous lesions like Basal Cell Carcinoma. The Emblation team believe it will eventually revolutionise treatment across multiple conditions.

Gary Beale, CEO of Emblation, said: “Barry’s story is truly inspiring and highlights the transformative capability of our Swift® microwave therapy. Cases like this motivate us to continue innovating and raising awareness so that more patients can access and benefit from this game-changing technology.”