VA Adding Physical Therapy Device To AI Roster
Male patient at physical rehab walking with the help of parallel bars while therapist supports him both wearing protective face masks . Hispanolistic/istockphoto
The Veterans Affairs Department is looking to pilot a new physical therapy application for injury treatment.
The Veterans Affairs Department plans to contract app developer JumpStart to build a platform that uses artificial intelligence and the user’s own body to improve the physical therapy process.
The app, called the AI Based Physical Therapy App, or AIPTA, will be designed to predict and mitigate repetitive stress-related injuries, according to a request for information posted to SAM.gov. The app will use an adaptive user interface to receive input from wearable devices that monitor various health diagnostics.
The VA expressed enthusiasm with a particular vendor, JumpStart, and noted that it “was rated to have the highest AI-based physical therapy biofeedback and analytical capabilities as related to physical therapy and rehabilitation,” during a tech sprint held by the agency’s National Artificial Intelligence Institute from December to June.
“VA has already vetted several other AI health applications but have not found any vendors with similar capabilities,” the notice read. “VA is considering issuing a sole-source award to JumpStart CSR, unless other off-the-shelf applications are identified with equal or greater capabilities.”
The AIPTA is set to complement existing physical therapy processes that target chronic ankle and foot injuries. Using the input from wearable devices, the AIPTA will provide users with feedback on various health metrics, training recommendations and other customized reports from each user’s health data.
The pilot technology will begin with a "sensored footbed" that can share its data between the device and an iPad camera and other inputs.
Other vendors interested in the program can respond to the RFI through Dec. 8.