One out of five adults suffers from chronic pain and half of all patients have been suffering for at least seven years (median). Patients usually go through an odyssey of examinations and treatments while long term relief becomes a hope rather than an expectation. The new pain diary app CatchMyPain promises to put an end to this odyssey.
Solution: Learning from each other
CatchMyPain allows the tracking of chronic pain problems by using detailed and colorful pain drawings among other instruments. The diary helps patients to explain their pain problem and its course to care providers. However, the biggest benefit of CatchMyPain lies in the creation of a global pain database which enables patients and care providers to learn from similar patients:
Sophisticated algorithms identify clusters (groups) of similar patients based on the anonymous pain diaries. E.g. one cluster might contain all back pain patients having a burning and pulsating pain which appears at night but not during the day. The analysis of such a cluster will allow conclusions about the most probable diagnoses and the most promising treatments. Using this empiric information will increase the efficiency of chronic pain treatment. Furthermore if someone finally finds a good solution for a specific pain pattern, it can be propagated to all similar patients worldwide.
Besides gaining new insights about chronic pain, getting support from peers is very important. Care providers might know the medical theory about chronic pain but only patients know what it really means to live with chronic pain on a daily basis. Therefore patients will soon be able to exchange best practices with each other.
Watch the Video
The typical pain odyssey and the vision behind CatchMyPain are best explained in the short CatchMyPain product video (also available in German).
Roadmap and Availability
The pain diary functionality is already available for free and being used by many patients worldwide. The clustering and community features will be released towards the end of 2013. CatchMyPain can be downloaded as an app for the iPhone, iPad and Android tablets. In addition it is accessible at http://www.CatchMyPain.com by using a desktop browser (Safari and Chrome). The tablet and desktop versions have more features as of now (e.g. pain graph, tracking influences, etc.), but the iPhone app will catch up soon. An Android smartphone app is on its way. All apps are available in English, Spanish, German and French.
The Start-up behind CatchMyPain: Sanovation AG
The idea for CatchMyPain was born four years ago, when CEO and co-founder Daniel Lawniczak struggled with his own chronic pain problem. In 2011 the start-up Sanovation AG was founded in Zurich, Switzerland and develops CatchMyPain in the course of a research project in cooperation with the University of Zurich. The project is funded by the Swiss government and several foundations. A medical advisory board consisting of international pain experts assures the medical relevance of the diary features and clustering results. More care providers, insurances and other institutions are very welcome to join the fight against chronic pain.
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