Kaia Health, a health technology company based in New York City, has developed a smartphone app that can guide users through exercises to help with back pain and COPD. The technology uses AI powered motion tracking technology to monitor users’ movements through a smartphone camera, and provides feedback on the exercises being performed. The app can help users to perform therapeutic exercises correctly, and maximize their effectiveness.
Lower back pain is a major source of discomfort and disability for many people around the world. However, rather than rely solely on drug treatments, physicians are increasingly coming to realize the value of exercise programs as a first-line therapy for lower back pain. However, such exercises must be performed correctly to maximize benefit, and avoid aggravating the condition further.
To address this, Kaia Health has developed its app specifically to help users to perform therapeutic exercises correctly. However, the app does not just provide help with physical therapy, but also provides psychological and educational support for users, and with the aim that a multimodal approach will be more effective.
In a recent peer-reviewed study in NPJ Digital Medicine, a group of patients with non-specific lower back pain showed a significant reduction in pain levels after three months using the Kaia app, compared with a control group of patients who received physiotherapy and an online education intervention.
The company also offers a version of the app for COPD sufferers, which aims to help with pulmonary rehabilitation to provide relief from COPD symptoms. Pulmonary rehabilitation can have significant effects on COPD patient quality of life, breathlessness, and the ability to do exercise, and some studies have shown that these effects can be greater than many other COPD treatments.