Physical therapy management system

Abstract

A physical therapy management system including a motion sensor mounted to a user's leg brace to sense and wirelessly transmit movement of the leg when the user is performing a prescribed exercise therapy routine. An app on the user's computing device receives the sensor motion data and compares the patient's exercise performance to the patient's therapy prescription. Real-time animation of the user's performance is shown on the user's computing device along with exercise guidance. The user may view general and custom videos of exercise routines on the user's computing device. A health care practitioner stores the user's prescription, a list of pre-recorded video therapy exercise files, custom exercise files and the order in which the exercises are to performed under the prescription.

Description

[0001]This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14 / 076,619, filed Nov. 11, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,919,198, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The disclosed technology relates generally to the healthcare industry, and more particularly, some embodiments relate to systems and methods for automated physical therapy management.DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART[0003]While computers and computerized systems have found their way into most of today's businesses, some sectors are more automated than others. For example, certain sectors of the healthcare industry have been slow to automate their systems and procedures, or have yet to evolve into an integrated, user-friendly computerized solution. This is true, for example, with a number of small healthcare practices, family practices, and hospital systems in this country and around the world. However, this shortcoming is not unique to small healthcare practices and indeed, many large ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent is about a system that helps healthcare professionals manage and track patient data during physical therapy routines. It includes a motion sensor that is worn by the patient during the exercise and sends data to a user device. The user device provides instructions and receives the sensor data, which is used to record the patient's performance. This system can help improve the patient's outcome by providing valuable feedback on their progress. Additionally, it can help healthcare facilities keep track of patient performance and provide information to the patient's healthcare practitioner. Overall, this technology can make physical therapy more efficient and effective for patients.

Problems solved by technology

For example, certain sectors of the healthcare industry have been slow to automate their systems and procedures, or have yet to evolve into an integrated, user-friendly computerized solution.

However, this shortcoming is not unique to small healthcare practices and indeed, many large healthcare practices suffer from a lack of automation with various aspects of the practice.

One area in particular that has been difficult for healthcare practices to manage is that of therapy in the home.

In such scenarios, patients may fail to perform the prescribed exercises, or fail to perform them at the prescribed level (e.g., frequencies or number of repetitions).

Likewise, patients may perform the exercises but may fail to carry them out properly.

For example, the patient may fail to push to achieve the appropriate extension or range of motion prescribed.

Additionally, even where a patient performs the exercises, the patient may fail to properly record the exercises or report back to the healthcare practice with the exercises accomplished or the results of those exercises.

Because patients may fail to properly or fully complete the physical therapy at home, the potential for reduced outcomes from the surgical procedure is a real threat to the recovery process and may lead to additional incurred expense for surgical revision, which may drive up the overall cost of healthcare.

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