INNOVATION FOR INDEPENDENCE
ISSUE 113 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 £6.95
Physio phone app trialled at Kent hospital
A NEW smartphone app described by the inventor as ‘a physiotherapist in your living room’ is being trialled at a Kent hospital.
The app allows a physio to prescribe a series of exercises and then chart your progress as your phone relays your workout data back to their computer. By a remarkable coincidence the consultant surgeon behind the idea is also one of the first to be putting it to the test after he fell off his bicycle and broke his elbow! Professor Rahul Kanegaonkar, an ENT consultant surgeon at Spire Alexandra Hospital in Chatham, designed the app when he discovered how many patients were failing to do there full physio programme. He said: “I was quite surprised when I heard how many patients were just not completing their physio courses but, after giving it some thought, I could see many reasons why this might happen. “For a start, once you leave the physio ‘you’re on your own’! There’s no-one checking up on you when you get home and, to put it bluntly, it’s easy to cheat! “With this app it’s almost like taking the
physiotherapist home with you! Once you have strapped your smartphone to your arm, I use a jogging pouch, then all your exercises can be seen and analysed. Your physio will be able to keep an eye on the work you are doing and the beauty of this app is that they can change your exercises whenever they think it necessary. “This means you reach your recovery target quicker but also it takes away the need for regular visits to your physiotherapist saving you time and travel costs.” Orthopaedic surgeon Professor Amit Tolat, who treated Prof Kanegaonkar’s broken elbow, is now helping to monitor the trials. He added: “Early results are promising and I feel it could be a major boost to the physiotherapy department at Spire Alexandra and, indeed, many other hospitals”. Physiotherapist Fatimah Parkar added: “It is amazing how I can actually see his progress in graphs from week one to week three. “I can also keep track of his progress and see where improvements or changes are required. It also ensures that I can see that he is also doing all of his exercises – and doing them correctly.”
Digital glasses which assist people who have lost the use of their arms and a wheelchair that goes up and down steps have been crowned the winners of a “Dragons’ Den” style design competition. The Blackwood Design Awards – which discover and champion new and innovative ideas to improve the lives of those with physical or learning disabilities– recently took place at the Dundee Contemporary Arts centre, and saw nine shortlisted inventors pitch for the top spot. Full story on page 4