Phase 1
In 2023, while I was working out, I experienced a snap in my back during an exercise, which caused me to lose some mobility in my back. As a result, I wanted to develop a solution for myself that I could use to train at home and track my progress in terms of back mobility. At that time, I had been working quite a bit with pose estimation, so I decided to develop a prototype for myself that I could use.
My application needed to be able to count repetitions when I reached a specific angle in my back. Below, you can see the first prototype.
Phase 2
I decided to explore the potential of whether there was a business opportunity for physiotherapists to improve their treatment through precise measurements of body movements using AI. I therefore spoke with a physiotherapist who explained that physiotherapists often face the challenge of handling many patients, especially those with shoulder, back, and hip injuries. It can be difficult to quantify and document patients' progress between sessions, which can lead to inaccurate assessments. The prototype I developed could help physiotherapists make precise, quantitative measurements of the patient's movements, which can be stored and reused, ensuring a higher professional standard and more effective treatment.
I decided to design a simple solution where the user could choose an angle and receive live measurements. My intention was to create an MVP that I could showcase to clinics to gather their feedback.
Start Screen
Choose the angle you wish to measure.
Screen where measurement of your choosen angle happens live
To develop the prototype, I collaborated with a freelance developer I found on Upwork. The process took about three days, with only a few minor issues along the way, resulting in a fully functional prototype that I was able to showcase. The main purpose of the prototype was to gather feedback from clinics and assess the market potential.
Below is a video recording of the MVP in action. Two angles are used in the video, with me explaining what is happening to a clinic.
Phase 3
I presented the solution to three clinics, along with the tools relevant to their work, and explored whether there was a viable business opportunity behind the idea. Fundamentally, the clinics were enthusiastic about the idea and technology and could see how precise data could assist them in their work. However, the problem was that the frequency with which they actually used an angle tool to measure patients was around 10-15% of their patients. This is because they handle so many different cases where, for many patients, it does not make sense to measure their angles in relation to injuries, as the issues can be very varied.
It also became apparent that the business case for the idea was not strong enough, as the clinics were unlikely to find it relevant enough to invest in. In that case, one would need to focus specifically on areas like rehabilitation and sports injuries, but the market of private clinics that work directly with this was not large enough.
In the end, I decided not to proceed with the idea, as the business potential was not high enough. However, the learning experience was still very valuable, and exploring health technologies was interesting, providing inspiration to further explore the field.