Low-Cost Tool for Compliance and Treatment-Tracking of Low Back Pain Patients

 描述（由申请人提供）：创新设计实验室（IDL）建议开发和部署一种低成本的测量系统，该系统可跟踪运动依从性，并为腰痛患者提供远程健康指导。背痛是45岁以下人群活动受限的最常见原因，也是美国70%至85%人口残疾的第二大原因。这是导致 每年有70多万例外科手术，每年用于治疗和护理的费用总额超过800亿美元。腰椎的动态运动已被证明会随着椎间盘退变和疼痛而改变。此外，这些异常的运动模式可以通过规定的物理治疗和锻炼来改善。在实践中，治疗师通过在诊所进行一系列指导性锻炼和伸展运动来定性地监测背痛治疗，然后规定在家中进行锻炼和伸展运动的方案。很难跟踪长期治疗的表现和依从性。该研究计划旨在对慢性腰痛患者进行长期治疗跟踪。第二阶段将开发一种新型、低成本、高准确度的系统，用于跟踪和鼓励患者遵守锻炼协议。假设：我们假设测量物理治疗方案依从性的器械将增加患者参与。具体目标：1）开发一个生产就绪的原型硬件系统; 2）为患者和健康教练设计和实施易于使用的云软件; 3）进行人体研究，以评估系统对依从性和生活质量的影响。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Innovative Design Labs (IDL) proposes to develop and deploy a low-cost measurement system which tracks exercise compliance and enables remote health coaching for patients with low back pain. Back pain is the most common cause of activity limitation in individuals younger than 45 years and is the second leading cause of disability in the U.S. afflicting between 70% and 85% of the population. It is the leading cause of lost wages and accounts for more than 700,000 surgical procedures per year with a total over $80 billion annually spent on treatment and care. Dynamic motion of the lumbar spine has been shown to change with disc degeneration and pain. Furthermore, these aberrant motion patterns can be improved with prescribed physical therapy and exercise. In practice, therapists qualitatively monitor back pain treatments through series of guided exercises and stretches in the clinic and then prescribe a protocol of exercises and stretches to be performed in the home. It is difficult to track performance and compliance over long periods of treatment. This research program aims to enable the long term treatment-tracking of patients with chronic low back pain. A novel, low-cost, highly accurate system that tracks and encourages compliance with a patients exercise protocol will be developed in phase II. Hypothesis: We hypothesize that a device which measures compliance to physical therapy regimens will increase patient participation. Specific Aims: 1) Develop a production-ready prototype hardware system; 2) Design and implement easy-to-use, cloud-enabled software for patients and health coaches; and 3) Conduct a human study to evaluate the effect of the system on compliance and quality of life.