From Scientist to Innovators: improving the life of patients after spinal surgery

Together with the Hospital Liberec and the company Bindworks, a new project was created under the auspices of the SCI-FI programme, which hope for a systemic solution for improving the quality of life of patients after spinal surgery. The solution should focus on patients susceptible to social isolation and loneliness – ideally with remote monitoring and communication between caregivers, patients, and other stakeholders.

A solution should cover this branches:

✔️ Identify vulnerable patients early in the process (while still in hospital or rehab clinic) so preventive actions can be taken
✔️ Motivate patients to follow prescribed procedures at home and provide them with interactive feedback to increase their motivation
✔️ Monitor overall health development of the patients (activity, sleep, mood, cognitive functions, and selected physiological values) and provide behavioral recommendations to patients, as well as critical alerts for care providers
✔️ Empower patients by providing simple ways to find and reach for self-help resources, as well as professional or community-organized help

The solution on its own should not require significantly higher human assistance to patients, as nowadays another common issue is the lack of qualified personnel. Quite the opposite, the solution should help existing personnel work more efficiently, spend more time with higher-risk patients, and quickly decide on the type of intervention that is needed. The solution should not rely solely on connecting patients with their relatives, as this could be both motivating/demotivating based on varying attitudes and the ability of relatives. Hospital in Liberec and Bindworks are now together looking for novel concepts of digital solutions to the above mentioned problem in order to develop and validate it together in Hospital Liberec and then potentially expand it across the Czech Republic and Europe. 

Hospital in Liberec is looking for strategies for improving the care of the patients after the spinal surgery, increasing their life quality/satisfaction, and preventing or reducing the risk of typical complications known paraplegic and quadriplegic patients. Bindworks looks to use its current experience with remote monitoring and digital intervention apps to develop sustainable and profitable solutions together with Hospital in Liberec, validate and pilot it in the Czech Republic and then expand on the international market. We wish them so much luck!