emerging technologies in physical therapy and rehabilitation: 10 opportunities for health startups...

Prepared for HealthStartup.eu 5 on emerging technologies in physical therapy & rehabilitation.

October 8, Amsterdam http://bit.ly/hsu5about

Emerging Technologies in

Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation

10 opportunities for health startups and clinicians

to make a difference

today

Why should we

care?

$849 billion (or 7.7% U.S. GDP)

Estimated cost of musculoskeletal

injuries & diseases in the U.S., 2004

£ 8.9 billion Estimated annual cost of treatment and

productivity loss caused by stroke in the UK.

Treatment costs account for approx. 5% of

total NHS costs.

The trouble

with physical

therapy is...

It takes a lot of time.

It requires lots of therapists.

It’s often painful & boring,

leading to poor compliance.

Image courtesy of http://www.rehabassociates.com/

Here’s

ways you can

make a difference

today

10

1 Automate exercise guidance

& progress monitoring

Researchers at the

University of

Southampton use

Microsoft Kinect to

help patients

recovering from a

stroke. A specially

devised algorithm

enables therapists to

remotely track

patients' hand and

finger movements and

guide them through

exercises.

Spain’s VirtualWare developed a ‘VirtualRehab’

system consisting of specialised games for the

Kinect and a control centre for clinicians. It enables

the clinician to plan exercises, monitor performance

and evaluate the progress of the therapy

Swiss startup YouRehab develops wearable interactive

therapy devices. YouGrabber enables training for

bimanual reaching and grabbing. YouKicker provides

training for leg and foot movements.

2 Improve motivation and

compliance through games

Dutch startup DoctorKinetic sells physiotherapy kits based

on Kinect and specialised physical therapy games, to

enhance motivation and fun factor

Lithuanian startup Devmotion develops therapeutic games

for children and transforms medical wards into virtual reality

environments

French startup Groupe Genious develops Voracy Fish, a

multiplayer serious game for physical rehabilitation of the

upper limb.

3 Change behaviour through

online digital coaching

Belgian startup

Brandnewhealth

develops digital

health coaching

programs addressing

8 health behaviour

domains (including

exercising, stress,

sleeping, weight etc)

4 Create more user-

friendly interfaces

Estonian startup

Cognuse develops

a cognitive

rehabilitation

system using

digital

‘BrainTraining’

exercises and a

dedicated

touchscreen

workstation.

5

Experiment with novel

interfaces to stimulate the

senses

Dutch startup

NYOYN creates

large interactive

sensory boards,

that stimulate the

senses (audio,

visual & tactile).

Used as

rehabilitation

tool for elderly

and people with

cognitive

disabilities

6 Enable home-based

therapy & exercises

Dutch startup Fysio24

offers live online

physiotheraphy

support.

German startup

KaasaHealth

develops

physiotherapy

software for the

iPad, PC and Wii

game console

(and Wii Balance

Board) for home-

based exercises

7 Enable clinical follow-up in a

systematic and viable way

Canadian startup Jintronix created a rehab system that

allows patients to do exercises at home using Kinect, while

their clinician is able to monitor progress and prescribe

additional exercises via a secure portal

The Mobile Health Unit

of the University of

Hasselt and Ziekenhuis

Oost Limburg in

Belgium have set up a

“clinical call center” to

support the

telemonitoring (&

rehabilitation) of

cardiac patients.

It consolidates and systematically monitors telemonitoring

data from various devices and applications (e.g.

pedometers, blood pressure, weight, heart rate,

medication) and it intervenes or alerts relevant clinicians

when necessary.

Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute FOKUS has developed a

telemedically assisted therapy and training environment

(based on Kinect) to reduce patients’ stay at clinics. It

includes a Smartphone linked mobile sensor unit to

measure vital signs such as pulse, oxygen saturation levels,

and (where applicable) ECG/EKG readings. The

physiotherapist monitors this data and can tailor therapy to

avoid dangerous levels of stress. (photo © Matthias Heyde/ Fraunhofer

FOKUS)

8 Empower the disabled

BrainControl uses a brain-computer interface technology

that interprets electrical signals corresponding with certain

brain activity and allows a computer to be controlled with

thoughts. Hence, it has potential as an assistive technology

for people suffering from ALS, Multiple Scleroris, people in

a locked-in state, etc

9

Use wearable technology to

detect and correct problems

on the fly

Launched with a KickStarter project, LUMOback is a

wearable sensor that alerts you when you’re slouching and

guides you (via the accompanying app) to a better posture

Researchers at the University of Utah developed a smart

shoe insole (called RapidRehab) to help people correct

their gait during rehabilitation. The device relies on force

sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, a wireless transmitter

and a smartphone app.

10

Improve diagnosis and

treatment by gathering more

data

A team at the Children’s

National Medical Center

in the U.S. are

experimenting with the

Kinect to help diagnose

and treat chronic pain

syndromes (which is

difficult to diagnose)

Mindmaze

combines motion

sensing, virtual

reality and brain

monitoring

technology for

stroke and brain

injury

rehabilitation

Need more inspiration?

Imagine

the potential of these

technologies in physical

therapy & rehabilitation...

Leap Motion Controller (an $80 consumer device) tracks

hand and finger movement in a small 3D space with a

claimed accuracy of 1/100th of a millimeter.

MYO armband (by Thalmic Labs) measures electrical

activity to detect fine movement from a wearer’s arm, which

lets the user wirelessly control a computer (and thus

anything else)

Shimmer is a small wireless sensor

platform that incorporates wireless

ECG, EMG, GSR, Accelerometer,

Gyro, Mag, GPS, Tilt and Vibration

sensors.

Microsoft’s new Xbox One Kinect can detect (or “see”)

your pulse, using a combination of the colour image feed

and the infrared sensor

Researchers at the University of Southern California use

Kinect to detect whether you are depressed, with 90%

accuracy rate

Wearable Games is a

graduation project by two

game design students that

integrates multiple

sensors (bend sensors,

heart rate) and feedback

tech (speakers, shakers,

LED screen) in a wearable

game platform.

Startup Virtuix takes

virtual reality to the

next level, allowing

gamers to move

naturally in a virtual

reality

Devices that

integrate

multiple sensors

and interfaces

Software for

changing

behaviour

(games and

digital

coaching)

Communication

networks &

tools

The #1 lesson: Look for the sweet spot as

four tech domains converge to transform

physical therapy and rehabilitation

Analytics & Big

Data

Consider

7

potential

challenges

3

1 Clinical validation

It is necessary

It takes time

It is expensive

How will you fund it?

Who will you partner with (startup

+ university + large tech/pharma)?

2 Clinical feedback loops

Clinicians won’t monitor alerts from

multiple devices & systems.

How will you make it easy,

convenient & secure for clinicians

to take part?

Work with clinicians, integrate with

their systems and interfaces.

3 Business model

Who will pay? (the answer will

differ from country to country)

Healthcare providers

Patients

Employers

Health insurance

Public health/government

What next?

Europe’s networking

conference for digital

health innovators.

Next event’s topic:

Emerging technologies in

physical therapy &

rehabilitation

Join us in Amsterdam on

October 8

http://bit.ly/hsu5about