Case Study
Medflexion Health
Healthcare / Rehabilitation
Smart wearable wrist brace with SaaS platform for data-driven hand rehabilitation, backed by a US design patent.
Medflexion Health
Tech Partnership
Healthcare / Infant Safety
12 Months
- Real-time motion tracking during rehabilitation exercises
- Remote clinician monitoring and analysis
- Smart wearable for real-time hand and wrist tracking to support pain
KeyOutcomes
Developed a smart wrist brace with integrated sensors for real-time motion data collection
during rehabilitation exercises, protected by US design patent D1059605
Built a SaaS platform for recording, analyzing, and visualizing hand and wrist motion data to
guide personalized rehabilitation programs
Created a BLE-connected system enabling remote monitoring by physical therapists, reducing
the need for in-clinic therapy sessions
The Challenge
Before partnering with Iottive, Medflexion Health was facing several issues:
Subjective Rehabilitation Assessment
Traditional hand and wrist rehabilitation relies on visual assessment by therapists during in-clinic visits. Between visits, there’s no objective data on patient compliance, range-of-motion progress, or exercise quality — therapists adjust programs based on patient self-reporting.
Limited Home Exercise Feedback
Patients performing rehabilitation exercises at home receive no real-time feedback on whether they’re executing movements correctly. Improper exercise form can slow recovery or cause re-injury.
Sensor Integration in a Medical Brace
Embedding motion sensors in a wrist brace that patients wear for hours daily required solving comfort, weight, battery life, and washability constraints — the sensor module couldn’t compromise the brace’s primary therapeutic function.
Early-Stage Resource Constraints
As a 2022-founded startup in San Diego, Medflexion Health needed a development partner capable of delivering firmware, mobile app, and SaaS platform under startup budget and timeline constraints.
Our Solution
Iottive delivered a complete AIoT solution under a full-cycle product development model.
Bluetooth & IoT Expertise
Designed a removable BLE sensor module that clips into the wrist brace, streaming motion data (flexion, extension, ulnar/radial deviation, pronation, supination) to the companion app in real time during exercise sessions.
Design Thinking Approach
Worked with physical therapists and hand surgery rehabilitation specialists to define the motion metrics that matter clinically. Designed the patient app to guide exercises with visual targets and real-time feedback on range-of-motion relative to personalized goals.
Project Planning & Execution
Lean startup methodology: MVP brace with single-axis motion sensing (12 weeks), followed by full 6-DOF motion tracking (8 weeks), then SaaS platform with therapist dashboard (10 weeks). Each phase validated with therapist feedback before proceeding.
Functionalities Delivered
Real-time motion data streaming during exercises, guided exercise library with visual range-of-motion targets, session recording and playback, therapist dashboard with patient progress tracking, compliance monitoring (did the patient do their exercises?), progress reports exportable to clinical records, and secure messaging between patient and therapist.
Implementation Highlights
Sensors & Hardware
6-DOF IMU (accelerometer + gyroscope) in a removable, rechargeable module weighing under 8g. The module clips into a pocket on the brace and can be removed for washing. Protected by US design patent D1059605.
Edge & Connectivity
BLE streaming to companion app during exercise sessions. Data syncs to cloud SaaS platform after each session for therapist review. Offline exercise mode caches data locally when phone connectivity is unavailable.
Firmware & Performance Optimization
Motion sampling at 100 Hz with on-device filtering to remove tremor artifacts and noise. Quaternion based orientation tracking provides accurate joint angle measurements without drift accumulation over multi-minute exercise sessions.
Data Analytics & Visualization
SaaS platform computes range-of-motion metrics per exercise, tracks progress over weeks,and
generates clinical-grade reports showing recovery trajectory relative to normative baselines for the patient’s age and condition.
Dashboard & UX
Patient app with exercise guide, real-time motion visualization (animated hand model showing current position vs. target), and session summaries. Therapist dashboard with multi-patient panel, progress charts, and compliance alerts.
Security & Compliance
HIPAA-compliant data handling for patient health information. Encrypted BLE and cloud communication. Role-based access separating patient, therapist, and clinic administrator views.
Results & Impact
- US design patent D1059605 granted January 28, 2025, protecting the smart brace form factor
- Functional prototype validated with physical therapists confirming clinical relevance of motion metrics
- SaaS platform enabled remote rehabilitation monitoring, reducing the need for in-clinic visits during recovery
- Removable sensor module solved the washability problem that limits adoption of other smart braces
- Early therapist feedback confirmed that objective range-of-motion data changed rehabilitation program decisions
“Most smart rehabilitation devices are either too bulky for patients to wear or too simplistic for therapists to trust. Iottive built a sensor module so small and light that patients forget it’s in the brace, and a SaaS platform that gives me objective range-of-motion data I can use to adjust therapy programs between visits. The design patent protects an approach I believe will become standard in hand rehabilitation.”
— John Bond, Medflextion Health
Lessons & Best Practices
Make the Sensor Disappear
Patients wearing a rehabilitation brace all day will not tolerate a bulky, uncomfortable sensor. The removable 8g module achieved clinical-grade data without compromising brace comfort.
Therapist Trust Requires Clinical Metrics
Physical therapists don’t care about raw accelerometer data — they need joint angles, range of motion, and progress relative to clinical baselines. Translating sensor data into clinical language was essential for
adoption.
Solve Washability
Rehabilitation braces get dirty. A removable sensor module that the patient extracts before washing eliminated the #1 practical objection from therapists considering smart braces for their patients.
Start with MVP, Validate, Expand
Beginning with single-axis motion sensing proved the concept with minimal investment. Therapist feedback from Phase 1 directly shaped the 6-DOF requirements for Phase 2.
Technology
Comprehensive IoT Technology Stack
From devices and connectivity to cloud, apps, and security — we leverage a full-stack IoT ecosystem to build scalable, secure, and future-ready solutions.
BLE
iOS Swift
Android Kotlin
SaaS platform
Why Iottive’s the Right Partner
- Medical wearable expertise: Iottive has built sensor-embedded wearable devices for healthcare applications, solving the unique constraints of comfort, battery life, and clinical-grade accuracy
- SaaS platform development: full-stack capability from BLE firmware through cloud platform to clinician dashboards — critical for a startup that needs one partner, not three vendors
- Startup-stage partnership: Iottive structures engagements for early-stage companies with lean budgets, phased milestones, and rapid iteration cycles
Next Steps for Medflexion Health
Conduct a clinical validation study comparing Medflexion-guided rehabilitation outcomes to
standard therapy protocols
Expand the sensor platform to elbow and shoulder braces using the same removable module
architecture
Integrate with physical therapy practice management software for automated documentation
and billing
Develop AI-driven exercise recommendation engine that adapts rehabilitation programs based on recovery trajectory data