Sword Health: the innovative solution for distance therapy

Every year, two billion people across the world face the challenges of recovering from surgery. The traditional physiotherapy system is discouraging because high-quality assistance costs are very high, and half of patients drop out of physiotherapy, keeping their pain and turning to unhealthy alternative solutions such as opioids that create dependencies. Motivated by his brother’s experience with recovering, Virgilio Bento decided to find a solution to improve physiotherapy assistance for these patients by researching a digital version of physiotherapy that leverages advanced technology.

Virgilio worked closely with insurers, health systems, and medicine experts to provide high-level tech-enabled physical therapy. Swordhealth solution uses wearable motion-sensing trackers that wirelessly communicate with the digital therapist. The assistant then guides the patient through each therapy session with real-time feedback, allowing patients to follow the therapy where and when it best suits them. “This kind of medtech is more in demand than ever, as patients increasingly look to stay in their home for care.” All the data tracked goes to a cloud, where therapists can consult them and manage the support remotely.

Virgilio started to build the technology during his PhD already, spending more than five years on it – from idea and research to product development, testing, and validation – to ensure the release of a safe and clinically approved tool. The process has been long and resource-demanding, asking for a bet on the initial investment. But the results have been even more rewarding. Swordhealth not only allows a 20% faster recovery with better and long-lasting impacts but also prevents unnecessary musculoskeletal surgeries: scientifically, half of all such surgeries don’t improve the patient’s situation.

Launched in 2015 in Europe, it reached Australia and, in 2020, also the USA. Sword Health is one of the most well-known providers of virtual and digital physical therapy and today is taking healthcare to the next level, using its AI-powered platform to assist thousands of users.