Development of a back tension change monitoring robotic physiotherapy system

慢性背痛(CBP)很常见，它引起的疼痛可能会给人们的生活带来巨大的负担。临床上使用的CBP治疗的一个关键结果指标是患者背部软组织张力的变化。在治疗前后，理疗师都会进行人工评估，以评估颈部、肩部或下背部等受影响区域的软组织紧张程度。尽管市场上现有的一些背部治疗设备提供了治疗的好处，但它们都不能监测背部紧张的变化。我们正在开发一种创新的背部治疗机器人，可以实现这一点。通过测量干预前、干预中和干预后的背部张力，我们的创新为用户提供了减少背部张力和治疗益处的客观测量。背部张力是一种数据类别，消费者尚未获得任何有意义的规模。通过测量治疗期间用户背部紧张程度的变化，我们的创新将使我们的背部护理机器人能够创建这个新的数据集。然后，这些数据可以输入到我们使用的软件中，以便通过机器人向用户提供个性化的治疗程序，从而允许根据数据不断优化治疗。结果将是一个足够智能的背部治疗机器人，它可以为你的个人背部设计最佳治疗方案，然后根据你背部张力的变化的客观测量来不断改进治疗。这一创新将改变背部护理行业的游戏规则，并在CBP管理和总部位于英国的数字健康领域创造全球领先者。

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.