Meet James Swinton, whose life took a transformative turn with the beginning of peripheral arterial disease, leading to the loss of his left leg above the knee in early 2022. As he got on his prosthetic journey later that year, the initial stages proved to be challenging. Struggling to adapt to his prosthetic device, James gained weight and decreased physical activity, relying on a short-distance cane and a mobility scooter for longer ones.

In the complex journey of prosthetic rehabilitation, each individual is unique and filled with different challenges and triumphs. This blog post marks the beginning of the case study analysis series, where we’ll share different patient stories that underwent activity evaluations using the Motio StepWatch System. Let’s introduce our first patient, Michael.

Building upon one of our previous blog posts, the Motio Functional Report contains distinct sections, including daily activity highlights, an overall activity summary, blind outcome evaluations, and detailed activity graphs.

We presented before the importance of the Daily Steps and how to understand the Daily Activity Highlights. Today, let’s take a look at the Blind Outcome Evaluations section.

Building upon one of our previous blog posts, the Motio Functional Report contains distinct sections, including daily activity highlights, an overall activity summary, blind outcome evaluations, and detailed activity graphs.

Motio Functional Reports offer us an unprecedented real-world assessment, providing clinicians, prosthetists, prosthetic users, and insurance specialists with comprehensive insights into our patients’ daily activities and potential. By seamlessly integrating wearable devices designed for a minimum wear period of 7 days, the rehabilitation team can now make more informed decisions, tailor prosthetic rehabilitation plans, and enhance overall patient care.

The evolution and variety of prosthetic components make prosthetic prescription, fitting, and adjustment complex. While this complexity underscores the pressing need for evidence-based guidelines and benchmarks to evaluate prosthetic components and patient functional potential, it also brings to light the challenge of supporting diverse perspectives within a multidisciplinary team. Not all members think in the same way, and although diversity in experience levels and academic backgrounds is key to creating this team’s value, it can delay the decision-making process and impact patient care.

During the long-term acquisition, the Motio StepWatch™ system gathers step-related information and integrates it with in-clinic patient outcome results to create a deeper understanding of each prosthetic user's mobility potential. The different metrics and visuals that are presented on the Motio Functional Report allow the clinician to comprehend what the prosthetic users are usually accomplishing in their daily lives. Then, they can use this information as a benchmark when evaluating their potential and deciding which K-level recommendation would be more appropriate to each case, before getting the Motio Functional Level. The Motio Functional Level, suggested by the Motio StepWatch, will then take into account the clinician's decision, along with the remaining report context.

We are thrilled to announce the beginning of beta tests with Motio StepWatch in Portugal, marking a significant milestone in revolutionizing rehabilitation technology with lower limb prosthetic users! 

Patients with lower limb prostheses face unique challenges in their rehabilitation journey. The steps taken to evaluate a prosthetic user’s functional level vary between practitioners. Most frequently, it combines the patient's information with the clinician's own in-office evaluation, both of which can be fairly subjective. To assess their progress and determine the effectiveness of interventions, outcome measures are essential tools used by clinicians. These measures provide valuable data that guide treatment decisions, enhance communication among healthcare providers, and improve patient outcomes, but most of them only really represent how a patient acts within the walls of an O&P Clinic or Rehabilitation Center.

Self-reported activities of lower limb prosthetic users and Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) have limited reliability and objectiveness, which has led to an increasing interest in accurate real-world activity monitoring. For prosthetic users, monitoring activity levels can be important for several reasons, including evaluating the effectiveness of their prosthetic device, assessing progress during rehabilitation, and promoting physical activity for overall health and well-being ​[1–3]​.