Development of a back tension change monitoring robotic physiotherapy system

Chronic back pain (CBP) is common and the pain it causes can be a great burden on people's lives. A key outcome metric in the treatment of CBP used in clinical settings is soft tissue tension changes in the patient's back. Before and after treatment, physiotherapists carry out manual assessment to evaluate the level of soft tissue tensions in the affected areas such as the neck, shoulders or lower back.

Although some existing back therapy devices on the market offer treatment benefits, none of them can monitor back tension changes. We are developing an innovative back therapy robot that can achieve this. By measuring back tension before, during and after the intervention, our innovation offers users an objective measure of the reduction in their back tension and the benefits of the treatment.

Back tension is a data category that is not yet available to consumers on any meaningful scale. By measuring the evolution of our users' back tension during treatment, our innovation will allow our back care robot to create this new data set. That data can then feed into the software we employ to offer personalised treatment programs with the robot to users, allowing that treatment to be continually optimised based on the data.

The result will be a back therapy robot that's smart enough to design the optimal treatment for your individual back, and then to keep improving that treatment based on an objective measurement of the changes in your back tension.

This innovation will be a game changer in the back care industry and create a global leader in the management of CBP and in digital health, based in the UK.