Rutgers students create technology startup designed to improve physical therapy recovery

Students have created a technology startup called Smart MS3 to provide smart and affordable solutions for the medical industry, including a newly created wearable device to improve the recovery process for physical therapy patients.

Rehan Yadav, a Rutgers Business School sophomore and member of the startup, said Smart MS3 focuses on improving completion rates for physical therapy programs. He said 7 out of 10 physical therapy patients never complete their recovery process, which harms both the patient and the physical therapy clinic because low patient retention rates cause the average clinic to lose more than $240,000 yearly.

Dropping out of rehabilitation programs can also result in reinjury or an increased need for surgical procedures, said Akash Randhawa, a School of Arts and Sciences junior and co-founder and CEO of Smart MS3.

To combat such issues, Smart MS3 was founded in 2018, according to the startup’s website. Randhawa said he was particularly inspired by his grandmother, who was partially paralyzed after a stroke.

He said she was discouraged after not seeing improvement after a week of physical therapy and wanted to quit, so he started the company to engage her and other physical therapy patients by using their own recovery data as a means of encouraging them to continue with the rehabilitation process.

“People want to get better, but they don’t know how they’re getting better, and they’re not really encouraged enough,” Randhawa said. “We’re really trying to make sure people adhere to physical therapy.”

The team consists of university students from across the U.S., including several from the Honors College Innovation Lab at Rutgers, Randhawa said. Smart MS3 also has an advisory board composed of engineers, entrepreneurs and company executives, he said.

Yadav and Randhawa said that through iterative testing and trial and error, the company is developing a wearable device that tracks the patient recovery process in order to maintain a high commitment to physical therapy programs.

The team is using electromyography sensors (EMG) in order to monitor muscle activation while patients exercise, Randhawa said. The team also built an accompanying app to present EMG data to patients so they can track their own progress.

“Instead of people saying, ‘Rate my pain one to 10’ or ‘How am I feeling now?’ we’re literally looking at how their muscles are getting better on an objective level,” Randhawa said. “And it really helps clinicians explain their therapy process now. People are a lot less confused about it, and they actually understand where they’re heading.”

Randhawa said that patients will be able to set daily goals and see progress for specific muscle groups in a way that makes sense to them, rather than simply seeing numbers.

The device is currently in the third stage of development, and the team is testing prototypes with various clinics and implementing feedback, he said. Yadav said they are also working on manufacturing the device to fulfill preorders, although it is currently not available for purchase.

The Smart MS3 team has also entered the product in several entrepreneurial competitions, including TiE New York’s pitch competition, where the team came in third place. Yadav said they hope to extend the product’s reach as far as possible.

“We started with an idea to help adults and now want to expand the product to children with neurodegenerative diseases and young athletes,” he said. “With our innovative and insightful technology, we strive to enhance both physical therapists’ and patients’ lives.”