AO’s Development Incubator-supported smartphone app empowers scoliosis patients to manage the condition
The Momentum Health team (left to right): Leander Goor (Co-CTO), Philippe Miller (CEO), Frank de Wijk (CTO), Evan Dimentberg (COO), and Jean Ouellet, chief medical officer (CMO).
Momentum Health, a new digital health app backed by the AO’s innovation funding, empowers scoliosis patients by giving them and their physicians a radiation-free tool for remotely screening and monitoring for the condition while at the same time delivering efficiency gains for a health care system under pressure.
Successful management of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), a lateral spinal curvature that impacts 2% to 3% globally, is linked to early detection via close monitoring of the spine. For patients, that means two full-length spinal x-rays every six months, yet only 10 percent of patients will require intervention; the remaining 90 percent are subjected to unnecessary radiation exposure. Beyond reducing AIS patients’ radiation exposure, Momentum Health’s new app will empower patients to take charge of monitoring the progression of their condition and eliminate unnecessary visits to the doctor, thereby relieving on an already overburdened health care system.