IncludeHealth, an internationally recognized provider of inclusive digital health and performance technologies, and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (Cincinnati Children's), a top-ranked pediatric medical center and research institution, announced today an exclusive licensing agreement to allow IncludeHealth to commercialize a research based digital health technology originally developed at Cincinnati Children's. The technology is called aNMT (pronounced "animate" and an abbreviation of Augmented Neuromuscular Training), and it offers camera-based, real-time movement analysis coupled with corrective feedback to optimize biomechanics (physical movements) for injury prevention and performance enhancement. The aNMT technology will integrate with IncludeHealth's cloud platform and data analytics solution to provide clinically validated treatment paths for physical therapy patients, including children and adults recovering from musculoskeletal diseases, disorders or injuries; seniors with mobility issues or other musculoskeletal pain; and athletes of all ages and physical ability.
An estimated 126.6 million Americans (one in two adults) are affected by a musculoskeletal condition. Comparable to the total percentage of Americans living with a chronic lung or heart condition, musculoskeletal care costs an estimated $213 billion in annual treatment, care and lost wages, according to the United States Bone and Joint Initiative (USBJI).
"For years, there has been a critical need for improved outcomes and care for musculoskeletal injury. Sixty-one percent of all sports injuries are musculoskeletal. Employers spend more on musculoskeletal disorders, approximately $20 billion/year in direct costs and up to 5X in associated indirect costs, more than any other condition or chronic disease," said Greg Myer, Ph.D., Director of The Human Performance Laboratory at Cincinnati Children's and the Director of Sport Performance Optimized by Research & Technology (SPORT) Center.
Current and conventional treatment of musculoskeletal injury begins with an assessment of an individual's biomechanics made by a highly skilled physician, therapist, or coach. This manual process can result in high variability in outcomes, due in part to that manual care but also the person's ability to retain and apply those biomechanical instructions in practice during post therapy sessions. If the person does not improve their biomechanics and retain their correction, musculoskeletal injuries do not heal and pain may remain persistent.
Dr. Myer and his team in the Division of Sports Medicine at Cincinnati Children's, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Cincinnati developed aNMT, a digital solution to the problem of inconsistent results from musculoskeletal care. An integration with
IncludeHealth's cloud platform and equipment enables physical therapists to quantitatively assess, standardize, and treat movement problems in real-time. Movement is captured through state-of-the-art cameras, and positional information is processed in milliseconds through proprietary aNMT algorithms to provide immediate feedback regarding whether a movement was correct. This virtual coach objectively and autonomously assesses, corrects, and optimizes the user's biomechanics.
"IncludeHealth has the opportunity to deliver this movement correction technology to a wide and diverse range of populations and applications, such as children with developmental deficits who are limited in their free-play, elite athletes rehabilitating from an injury, and elderly populations working to reduce the risk of falls," said Dr. Myer.
IncludeHealth's cloud-based platform commercially launched in early 2018 across multiple sectors of care. The platform pairs HIPAA-compliant data capture and analysis software with connected equipment and sensors to guide patients toward optimal strength and human performance. The combination of Cincinnati Children's research-based technology and IncludeHealth's human performance platform will result in a next-generation, musculoskeletal training and treatment tool. This combined innovation is poised to be a game changer that redefines the $29.6 billion/year physical therapy and rehabilitation industry.
IncludeHealth is supported by CincyTech, one of the Midwest's most active seed investors. "The aNMT technology is one example of the world-class innovation generated consistently at Cincinnati Children's," said CincyTech CEO Mike Venerable. "It's a perfect fit for the IncludeHealth platform which, like aNMT, was created by an Ohio innovator to improve opportunity, outcomes and value in cutting edge care."
IncludeHealth was built on the foundation of lowering barriers and improving access to health, wellness, and performance. Integrating evidence-based aNMT technology into our platform further supports this mission and enables an unparalleled suite of products for driving next-generation musculoskeletal care and training. Collaborating with Dr. Myer and Cincinnati Children's is an honor and a major milestone for IncludeHealth."
Ryan Eder, Founder and CEO of IncludeHealth
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