Team Rehab and FIGUR8 Partner for Faster Injury Recovery after Work-Related Motor Vehicle Accident

In the challenging aftermath of a catastrophic motor vehicle accident, Team Rehab clinician Tyler Stutz PT, DPT, CDNS out of Indiana harnessed the power of FIGUR8's innovative bioMotion Assessment Platform to guide an injured worker back to full duty.

This case study highlights how the integration of objective bioMotion data at the point of care plays a pivotal role in transforming the patient's recovery. 

Through precise measurement and detailed analysis of musculoskeletal function, a targeted, effective rehabilitation plan significantly expedited this injured worker's return to optimal performance, showcasing the profound benefits of FIGUR8 technology in clinical practice.

Data-driven evaluation lays the groundwork for faster recovery

In April 2023 Glen, a 31 year old male plumber, suffered serious injuries as the result of being involved in a motor vehicle accident while at work. He sustained multiple spinal fractures which completely removed him from his work environment. For his cervical spine, immediate care included managing the injuries conservatively with a collar. In his thoracic spine, a spinal fusion of two vertebrae (T3-4) was required. 
Four months after the initial injury, Glen arrived at Team Rehab, a FIGUR8-enabled clinic in Indianapolis, to start pro-active recovery on the path back to work, and life. As a full-time tradesman working in the plumbing industry, this injury was especially disconcerting as poor management of his injuries could not only prolong his recovery and slow return-to-work, it could end his career.

Initial bioMotion evaluation and assessment was completed swiftly and clear limitations in cervical range of motion in all directions was clearly denoted, likely as a result of prolonged use of, and weaning from, the cervical collar. 

In figure 1, below,  you can see range motion in all directions was less than 10 degrees in all directions whereas a healthy individual has more than 30 degrees on the lateral plane and 45 degrees during flexion and extension.

Figure 1. These graphics, included in FIGUR8 reporting, show a clear loss of range of motion for Glen.

The FIGUR8 evaluation also identified significant discrepancies in muscle symmetry. 
Figure 2 below, shows clear imbalance in the upper trapezius muscles, which are located in the upper back and neck. There was also limited endurance with prone neck extension as well. Both of these measures specifically (imbalance, limited endurance) have previously been identified as clear and significant indicators of a neck injury.

Figure 2. On the left, an image shows a 16% imbalance in muscle symmetry. The right image shows a significant difference in the rate of contraction between the right and left (a lower value is indicative of injury).

Tyler, the leading physical therapist managing Glen’s care, used data from the FIGUR8 evaluation to develop a recovery plan that focused on the restoration of cervical range of motion, increasing functional endurance, and work conditioning to facilitate the injured worker’s return to his day-to-day activities. 

The accuracy and consistency of the FIGUR8 bioMotion data allows managing care teams and providers to effortlessly monitor the effectiveness of the plan of care through reliable and repeatable data collection. A snapshot of longitudinal reporting on one of the many biomarkers collected by FIGUR8 in an assessment is highlighted in Figure 3 below.

Figure 3. Longitudinal FIGUR8 reporting showing improvement in range of motion on all planes.

Glen made significant gains in cervical range of motion between his assessment on September 13 and September 22, with gradual improvement continuing after the initial rapid improvement once he started physical therapy. The biomarkers collected by the FIGUR8 solution in Neck Extension, Neck Flexion and Neck Lateral Bend Left, all are clearly moving closer to or into the healthy reference range, which is the area on the graph highlighted in a blue color. With FIGUR8, providers have clinical data for their patients contextualized against a healthy reference range, bringing even more clarity to an injured worker’s recovery journey.  The data is labeled to understand whether the trend that they are seeing over the last 3 assessments is reflective of an actual change in patient recovery and performance.

For this patient, not only were the changes significant, but at the end of the episode of care, the majority of metrics were also within the healthy reference range.

Best-In-Class Technology, Best-In-Class Results

FIGUR8’s solution brings the power of a biomechanics lab directly into the clinical environment. 

With best-in-class technology to evaluate dynamic motion and muscle function, physical therapists and health professionals who manage musculoskeletal care now, for the first time, have objective data to inform their plan of care and monitor its effectiveness. 

This data is also automatically available in reports that can be shared with various stakeholders, including the referring providers, case managers, patient, and claims professionals to provide every party a clear understanding of an injured worker’s recovery and current performance. 

For Glen, this data allowed for a more efficient recovery timeline, and based off of comparative analysis against ODG, a greater than 50% reduction in duration was achieved. Specifically, the average duration from ODG guidelines suggested a timeline of 118 days with an average cost of of $44,109. With use of FIGUR8 guiding care decisions, the actual cost (including FIGUR8) came to a total of $22,396.69. This savings was achieved in only 58 days and represented an approximate 50% reduction in cost under FIGUR8 enabled care.

This case study demonstrates bioMotion data in the hands of the FIGUR8 enabled team at Team Rehab was able guide Glen to return to his job as a plumber faster and with more support after a catastrophic motor vehicle accident, which could have easily ended his career.

Objective data communicates progress and results.

Interested in figuring out how to enable FIGUR8?
Connect with the team by clicking here, or email us at info@figur8tech.com