Physical therapy management system

Abstract

A physical therapy management system including a motion sensor mounted to a user's leg brace to sense and wirelessly transmit movement of the leg when the user is performing a prescribed exercise therapy routine. An app on the user's computing device receives the sensor motion data and compares the patient's exercise performance to the patient's therapy prescription. Real-time animation of the user's performance is shown on the user's computing device along with exercise guidance. The user may view general and custom videos of exercise routines on the user's computing device. A health care practitioner stores the user's prescription, a list of pre-recorded video therapy exercise files, custom exercise files and the order in which the exercises are to performed under the prescription.

1 - 25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . An automated physical therapy system for providing automated exercise management, comprising:
 a motion sensor configured to be located in a fixed position on a movable member of a patient's body during performance of a prescribed exercise routine, the motion sensor configured to sense motion of the movable member of the patient's body and configured to wirelessly communicate movement data representative of the sensed motion of the movable member of the patient's body during performance of the prescribed exercise routine;   a physical therapy non-transitory memory in which is stored a library of files related to exercise therapy, wherein the files of the exercise therapy library comprise a video for a first time user to introduce the therapy process and to provide a user with general instructions needed to utilize the physical therapy system, a plurality of files having prerecorded video therapy exercise routines not specific to any particular patient, each of which contains specific instructions regarding an exercise, a patient-specific video showing a patient performing a custom exercise routine for a custom therapy both of which have been tailored for a particular patient;   a patient non-transitory memory in which is stored a database of patients, the database having at least one of patient identification, a list of at least one authorized health care practitioner (HCP) for a patient, and a prescription for therapy exercise routines issued by an HCP, wherein the prescription requires the patient to perform exercise routines in a particular order;   a server programmed to access the physical therapy memory and the patient memory to verify patient identification, to verify health care practitioner (“HCP”) identification, to access a patient's prescription, and in accordance with the prescription to download therapy exercise files including videos for general exercise routines and a patient-specific video having a custom exercise routine after receipt of that patient's identification and prescription verification; and   a patient computing device having a patient wireless communication interface configured to wirelessly receive movement data from the motion sensor, the patient computing device also comprising a display device, and a patient computing device memory in which is stored an automated physical therapy application, and a patient device processor, the patient device processor being programmed by the stored automated physical therapy application to automatically communicate with the server to identify a patient and to control the display device to present a menu of videos available to the patient for downloading and running in the order specified by the prescription, and in response to a patient's selection from the menu, to download and run an exercise routine of a selected therapy video exercise file linked to the patient in the patient database, in the order listed in the prescription, to receive movement data from the motion sensor worn by the patient as the patient performs the exercise routine being run, to control the display device to present an animation of the patient performing the downloaded exercise routine, and to prepare and upload patient performance data of the exercise routine to the server to be stored in the patient database.   
     
     
         27 . The automated physical therapy system of  claim 26  wherein the patient computing device processor is further programmed to download the automated physical therapy application from the server if the application is not resident in the patient computing device memory. 
     
     
         28 . The automated physical therapy system of  claim 26  further comprising a mounting device configured to be attached to the movable member of the patient's body during performance of the prescribed exercise routine, wherein the motion sensor is attached to the mounting device. 
     
     
         29 . The automated physical therapy system of  claim 28  wherein the mounting device comprises a brace to be worn on the movable member by the user during the prescribed exercise routine, wherein the motion sensor is attached to the brace during performance of the prescribed exercise. 
     
     
         30 . The automated physical therapy system of  claim 26  wherein the automated physical therapy application further programs the processor of the patient computing device to compare the movement data received from the motion sensor to the exercise routine to measure patient performance of the exercise routine against at least one of patient's prescribed goals and against population norms. 
     
     
         31 . The automated physical therapy system of  claim 26  wherein the automated physical therapy application further programs the processor of the patient computing device to automatically send information about the patient's performance as sensed by the motion sensor and logged by the automated physical therapy application to a health care practitioner who is associated with a patient in the patient memory. 
     
     
         32 . The automated physical therapy system of  claim 26  further comprising an HCP computing device programmed to communicate with the server to provide HCP identification, to request access to a particular patient's therapy prescription, to store a link to a pre-recorded video therapy exercise routine file and a link to a custom exercise in the physical therapy memory, and to store a prescription having a list containing an order in which the linked exercise routine files are to be performed by the patient. 
     
     
         33 . The automated physical therapy system of  claim 26  wherein the automated physical therapy application further programs the processor of the patient computing device to display on the display device of the patient computing device a button which, when pushed, is programmed to contact an HCP by at least one of telephone, text message, e-mail, and video-phone. 
     
     
         34 . The automated physical therapy system of  claim 26  wherein the patient device processor is also programmed by the stored automated physical therapy application to process the movement data and to control the display device to coach the patient to perform an exercise routine properly as prescribed. 
     
     
         35 . A method of physical therapy management, the physical therapy including locating a motion sensor on a movable member of a patient's body during the patient's performance of a prescribed exercise routine, the motion sensor configured to sense motion of the patient's member during performance of the prescribed exercise routine and wirelessly communicate movement data representative of the sensed motion, the method comprising:
 storing in a physical therapy non-transitory memory a library of files related to exercise therapy, wherein the files of the exercise therapy library comprise a video for a first time user to introduce the therapy process and to provide a user with general instructions needed to utilize the physical therapy system, a plurality of files having prerecorded video therapy exercise routines not specific to any particular patient, each of which contains specific instructions regarding an exercise routine, a patient-specific video showing a patient performing a custom exercise routine for a custom therapy both of which have been tailored for a particular patient;   storing in a patient non-transitory memory a database of patients, the database having at least one of patient identification, a list of at least one authorized health care practitioner (“HCP”) for a patient, and a prescription for therapy exercise routines issued by an HCP, wherein the prescription requires the patient to perform exercise routines in a particular order;   programming a server to access the physical therapy memory and the patient memory to verify patient identification, to verify health care practitioner (“HCP”) identification to access a patient's prescription, and in accordance with the prescription to download therapy exercise routine files including videos for general exercises and a patient-specific video having a custom exercise routine after receipt of that patient's identification and prescription verification;   programming a processor of a patient computing device with an automated physical therapy application to automatically communicate with the server to identify a patient and to control a display device to present a menu of videos of exercise routines available to the patient for downloading and running in the order specified by the prescription, and in response to a patient's selection from the menu, downloading and running a selected therapy video exercise routine file linked to the patient in the patient database, in the order listed in the prescription; and   further programming the processor of the patient computing device to wirelessly receive movement data from the motion sensor, as the patient performs the exercise being run, controlling the display to present an animation of the patient performing the downloaded exercise, processing the movement data and preparing and uploading patient performance data of the exercise to the server to be stored in the patient database.   
     
     
         36 . The method of physical therapy management of  claim 35  further comprising programming the processor of the patient computing device to download the automated physical therapy application from the server if the application is not resident in the patient computing device memory. 
     
     
         37 . The method of physical therapy management of  claim 35  wherein locating a motion sensor on a movable member comprises attaching a motion sensor to a mounting device which is adapted to be attached in a fixed position on a movable member of a patient's body during performance of a prescribed exercise routine. 
     
     
         38 . The method of physical therapy management of  claim 37  wherein mounting the motion sensor to a mounting device comprises mounting the motion sensor to a brace worn on the movable member by the user during the prescribed exercise routine. 
     
     
         39 . The method of physical therapy management of  claim 35  further comprising programming the processor of the patient's computing device to compare the movement data received from the motion sensor to the exercise routine to measure patient performance of the exercise routine against at least one of patient's prescribed goals and against population norms. 
     
     
         40 . The method of physical therapy management of  claim 35  comprising programming an HCP computing device to communicate with the server to provide HCP identification, to request access to a particular patient's therapy prescription, to store a link to a pre-recorded video therapy exercise routine file and a link to a custom exercise routine in the physical therapy memory, and to store a prescription having a list containing an order in which the linked exercise routines are to be performed by the patient. 
     
     
         41 . The method of physical therapy management of  claim 35  further comprising programming the processor of the patient's computing device to automatically send information about the patient's performance of an exercise routine as sensed by the motion sensor and logged by the automated physical therapy application to a health care practitioner who is associated with a patient in the patient memory. 
     
     
         42 . The method of physical therapy management of  claim 35  further comprising programming the processor of the patient's computing device to display on the patient's display device a button which, when pushed, is programmed to contact a health care practitioner (“HCP”) by at least one of a telephone, text message, e-mail, and video-phone. 
     
     
         43 . The method of physical therapy management of  claim 35  further comprising programming the patient device processor with the automated physical therapy application to process the movement data and to control the display device to coach the patient to perform an exercise routine properly as prescribed. 
     
     
         44 . A physical therapy management system for providing exercise management to a patient who has a motion sensor located in a fixed position on a movable member of the patient's body during performance of a prescribed exercise routine, the motion sensor configured to sense motion of the movable member of the patient's body and to wirelessly communicate movement data representative of the sensed motion, the patient also having a hand-held computing device that is configured to wirelessly receive and transmit signals, the patient hand-held computing device having a patient device wireless communication interface, a display device, a memory, and a processor, the physical therapy management system comprising:
 a physical therapy non-transitory memory in which is stored a library of files related to exercise therapy, wherein the files of the exercise therapy library comprise a video for a first time user to introduce the therapy process and to provide a user with general instructions needed to utilize the physical therapy system, a plurality of files having prerecorded video therapy exercise routines not specific to any particular patient, each of which contains specific instructions regarding an exercise routine, a patient-specific video showing a patient performing a custom exercise routine for a custom therapy, both of which have been tailored for a particular patient;   a patient non-transitory memory in which is stored a database of patients, the database having at least one of patient identification, a list of at least one authorized health care practitioner (“HCP”) for a patient, and a prescription for therapy exercise routines issued by an HCP;   a server programmed to access the physical therapy memory and the patient memory to verify patient identification, to verify health care practitioner (“HCP”) identification, to access a patient's prescription, and in accordance with the prescription to download therapy exercise files including videos for general exercise routines and a patient-specific video having a custom exercise routine after receipt of that patient's identification and prescription verification; and   a patient physical therapy management application that programs the processor of the patient hand-held device to automatically communicate with the server to identify a patient and to control the patient hand-held display device to present a menu of videos available to the patient from the server for downloading and running as specified by the prescription, and in response to a patient's selection from the menu, to download the selected video from the server and run the selected and downloaded therapy video exercise file linked to the patient in the patient database, receive movement data from the motion sensor worn by the patient as the patient performs the exercise routine being run, to control the display device to present an animation of the patient performing the downloaded exercise routine, and to prepare and upload patient performance data of the exercise routine to the server to be stored in the patient database.   
     
     
         45 . The physical therapy management system of  claim 44  wherein the prescription requires the patient to perform exercise routines in a particular order.