Supervised Recovery of Shoulder Muscular Skeletal Disorders Through a Wearable-Enabled Digital Application

Abstract

The present work introduces ShoulPhy: a digital application, which includes a rehabilitation protocol for the treatment of shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS). ShoulPhy, short for Shoulder Physiotherapy enables the development of a patient-centred physiotherapy program and the remote monitoring of the patient’s adherence to the program, both in the clinic and daily life. The application provides a quantitative and effective evaluation of the therapeutic activity and functional level, through the use of wearable devices. The final aim was to facilitate the functional physical recovery and maintenance gained through the rehabilitation program, thus leading to a complete return to sport and routine activities. ShoulPhy underwent small scale tests both on healthy subjects and clinicians, which, in addition to evaluating the technical reliability of the system, assessed the usability and acceptance by clinicians and patients.