MaxBay is a one of a kind physiotherapy system. We like to think of it as the future of physiotherapy. MaxBay is a complete unit comprising an IoT based sensor and a Windows Game made with Unity. The best part? It's a fully wireless system (the only actual "wires" being the ones supplying power to the microcontroller). This makes the sensor along with the microcontroller a completely independent system, which acts as the controller for the character in the game.
In other words, our sensor unit is a wearable controller.
For a proof of concept, we've adapted our sensor unit for a very specific physiotherapy exercise - wrist mobility exercise. We've fitted our sensor onto a glove that allows the patient to easily perform the said exercise. On a very very fundamental level, if you twist your wrist to the left, the game character moves to the left and if you twist your wrist to the right, the game character moves to the right.
We're not the kind to leave you high and dry, which is why we made sure there's plenty to do with our system. The standalone nature of our device makes it easy for us to integrate it for a wide variety of exercises. You can strap it to your head and accordingly gamify neck exercises. Or let's say for example you've broken your hand (praying that it never comes to that) and you want a simpler way to control your mouse. Well, here's the sensor you were looking for to automate the same.
The possibilities are endless and the only limit is your creativity. Then again, here's a non-exhaustive list from our side, because, well, because we don't like to leave you high and dry.
- Neck exercises (sensor strapped on head)
- Knee exercises (sensor strapped on leg)
- Elbow exercises (sensor strapped on forearm)
Well, I don't know about you, but traditional physiotherapy sounds INCREDIBLY boring. The usual way to go about it is to have a specialist beside you, telling you to do exercises such as raising a leg, rotating a wrist and so on. A recent study found out that 14% of physiotherapy patients did not return for follow-up outpatient appointments. Non-adherence to a home exercise program has been shown to be as high as 50-65% for general musculoskeletal conditions. This can lead to recurrent injury with the chance of a flare up and less positive outcomes in the long term.
We aim to make physiotherapy fun by integrating traditional exercises with games, thereby gamifying the approach. Using an interactive and rewarding approach for such a procedure makes the patient want to come back and follow up with the doctor. This leads to better treatment and adherence to the exercise program, leading to long term benefits. While we agree that a specialist is needed, we feel that the approach towards physiotherapy could use some changes and we are bringing that change.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FN19KEVdUctF4e_bkgBD_r7qY-7iKUb1?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FN19KEVdUctF4e_bkgBD_r7qY-7iKUb1?usp=sharing