Rehabilitation facilities
Physeco: helping bedridden patients through product
Physeco improves physical therapy for bedridden patients by increasing treatment frequency and quality. With custom accessories, reduced therapist reliance, and higher motivation, it makes rehabilitation more effective, accessible, and engaging.
Did the patient seems familier? he's acually frontend developer at wix editor!
The Client
Main Goals
Enable diverse and adjustable physiotherapy exercises
Ensure device safety and reliability
Offer a competitive and affordable price
Provide quick and simple operation
Allow easy transport and disinfection between patients
Overview
Bedridden patients face a range of secondary complications due to long-term immobility, including muscle loss, reduced bone density, and overall physical decline, regardless of the underlying cause. Limited access to physiotherapy further worsens these effects. To address this, there is a clear need for a solution that increases exercise opportunities and expands movement variety, all within the confines of the patient’s bed.
Target audience
Buyers
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Rehabilitation facilities
Users
bedridden patients
physiotherapists
Caregivers
My Process
Here's my journey in taking a product idea through to an advanced prototype.
01. Market Landscape
The market for exercise products designed for bedridden patients is limited, yet offers valuable insights into accessibility approaches and the reasons why many of these products remain unused in practice. Each solution presents its own advantages and drawbacks, but most fall short in key areas such as pricing, movement variety, user experience, independent use, and ease of operation.
02. Discovery & Definition
Understanding the main key point:
At the outset, it was important for me to deeply understand the pain points and what defines an ideal physiotherapy session. Recognizing that the most effective treatment typically occurs in the training hall, I mapped out the therapeutic equipment used there in order to translate as many of its capabilities as possible into the future product.
Gamified accessories
For engaging and cognitive training experiences
Suspension accessories
For varied movement and resistance angles
Heavy-duty equipment
For resistance and range of motion training
Mounted accessories
For guided and assisted movement
The suspension and Gamified accessories really caught my eye! no spoilers, but let’s just say they made it into the final product ;)
Bedridden patients need full-body training, but unlike rehab gyms, their options are limited, even with a physiotherapist. Most tools don’t support effective or meaningful exercise, and dynamic aids often lack the integration points needed for key movements.
Warning: This video includes sensitive medical imagery involving real patients and clinical settings. Some scenes may be emotionally difficult to watch.
Beyond the lack of suitable equipment, I learned that patients often receive far less than the recommended physiotherapy time due to staffing shortages, averaging just 30 minutes per day at best, or, in some cases, a similar session only once every few days.
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"The main problem is motivation."
"We're constantly chasing after patients."
"I would like for them to practice independently, and for it to be interesting. It's hard to find exercises like that... If I had something more engaging, I'd gladly use it."
"It's a bit like quitting smoking — the patient knows it's important, the question is what will actually get them to do it."
Building on the pain points uncovered through interviews with physiotherapists, Ministry of Health representatives, patients, and their families, I found that low motivation is a critical barrier to physiotherapy.
Rehabilitation centers are rarely uplifting environments, especially for patients confined to bed most of the day. Depression is common, and without meaningful incentives, many patients avoid even the simplest exercises, which further worsens their condition.
After identifying the pain points and needs of all stakeholders, I focused the project on three main objectives:
Increasing access to movement practice throughout the day
The system will include a virtual trainer that can be operated by non-physiotherapists, reducing the patient’s dependence on physiotherapist.
Increasing patient motivation to engage in therapy
The system will include gamification and a biofeedback mechanism to provide an enjoyable experience and track user progress.
Expanding the range of movement-based exercises
The product will be a system that enables a wide range of exercises for both limbs and torso.
To ensure the system would be both relevant and accurate, I collaborated with medical professionals throughout the process. Using a simple model I built, physiotherapists demonstrated the movements they aim to train and clarified the therapeutic goals behind each one.
I synthesized insights from observations, hands-on trials, and interviews into a clear exercise specification. This specification was organized into four distinct categories — each later evolving into a dedicated accessory within the system:
Pedaling
Intensive motor activation of the limbs
Resistance
Chest opening, limb strengthening
Body Lifting
Transitioning to a seated position, body repositioning
Touch & Push
Boxing motions, reaching to tap targets
Product Users
Medical Staff & Cargivers
User Interaction
System mobility and setup
Key UX Considerations
Supports clear configuration and optimal sstem placement
Physiotherapists
User Interaction
Therapy planning and data analysis
Key UX Considerations
Convienent and efficient patient data input and analysis
Patients
User Interaction
Self-directed
exercise
Key UX Considerations
Adaptable to users
with limited active
physical abilities
User Scenario
Product Requirments
After identifying the value propositions and key aspects of the product, I moved on to crafting a set of product requirements. This document outlines the product’s core requirements in a clear and measurable way, helping me define the boundaries and direction for the next stages of development.
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Users & Stakeholders
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Bedridden patients – primarily geriatric end-users
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Users with physical and cognitive abilities that allow active exercise
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Physiotherapists in hospitalization and rehabilitation wards
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Nursing and auxiliary medical staff
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Family members and close contacts of patients
Time of Usage
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Designed for independent use, also suitable for guided sessions
Usable during day and evening hours
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Allows unsupervised training
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Quickly movable for caregiving access
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Nursing and auxiliary medical staff
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Supports 2–3 daily sessions of 30–60 minutes each
Using Area
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Fits 2×2m spaces in hospitals and rehab centers
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Operable within patient’s reach while in bed
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Storable in standard facility equipment rooms
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Compatible with spaces containing dialysis or ventilator machines
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System operation
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Unit price capped at $5,000
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Patient setup and integration within 2 min
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Full disinfection within 2 minutes
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Digital interface for physiotherapist input
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User activity data
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Easy access to training data for physiotherapists and caregivers
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Clear progress tracking for patients
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Achievement sharing via dedicated platforms
User Experience
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Gamified training adapted to patient abilities
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Tracking of exercise type and repetitions
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Real-time biofeedback during training
Minimum requirements for training
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Physical training focused on maintaining and improving: endurance, muscle mass, range of motion, and repositioning ability
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Cognitive training to maintain and enhance abilities
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Adjustable difficulty tailored by the physiotherapist
Concepts
01. Wearable wireless system
This concept uses dedicated controllers that don’t interfere with the patient’s space, but may cause discomfort or be unsuitable for patients with injuries in interfacing limbs.
02. Modular system on stable bases system
This concept offers a stable base that doesn’t rely on interaction with changing room elements. It may also reduce cost by using a single sensing mechanism compatible with all accessories.
03. Bed-integrated accessory system
This concept splits the system into independent components that minimally interfere with the patient’s space, but may lack sufficient support or stability.
After some debating,
we have a winner!
03. Prototypes & User tests
After selecting the leading concept, the focus shifted to the product’s physical form and structure, which was primarily driven by user experience (UX) considerations and functional requierments.
Here are the key features I focused on throughout the process:
Stability of the System
Early prototypes revealed a key challenge: balancing mobility between patients with the need for a stable, secure structure during training.
The final solution combines three elements: a relatively heavy base for the arch, a motorized stopper anchored to the bed, and a strong yet user-friendly wheel lock.
Modularity
To support a wide range of patients and exercises, the system was designed to be modular. Each of the four core accessories can be attached to the base arch only when needed and in the optimal position. Unused accessories are stored in a side-mounted storage box.
Patient Motivation
Turning physically demanding tasks into something engaging is a real challenge.
By combining gamification with nature-inspired content, I created a system where patients control movement-based games, bringing energy, purpose, and a sense of the outside world into their recovery.
Guided Positioning & Calibration
To enable accurate, unsupervised training without full dependence on physiotherapists, it was essential to allow other caregivers to correctly position and calibrate the system on the patient's bed. To support this, I developed a dedicated app that guides both the setup and the exercise process-ensuring proper alignment for each training session.
04. Final Product Concept
We did it!
All of the hard work led to this one stunning product - packed with insights, innovation, and everything it was built to deliver. Physeco transforms rehabilitation into an engaging game with tailored, nature-inspired exercises delivered through a modular system, making physical therapy more accessible and effective for bedridden patients.
Physeco Accessories
I'm proud to present Physeco’s four modular accessories, each designed to support a different type of therapeutic movement. Inspired by the four classical elements—Water, Earth, Fire, and Air—these accessories bring the essence of nature into the rehabilitation process, helping to reconnect patients with the natural world they often miss during recovery.
Aqua
Builds and grows muscles by offering resistance from different angles.
Terra
Practice sitting up and turning over in bed with ease.
Flamma
Improve joint flexibility & muscle strength through different movements.
Aria
Sustained limb exercise for improved heart and lung health.
The App
To support independent training and reduce therapist dependency, I designed an integrated digital system: a tablet interface guides non-professional users through proper setup and interactive exercises, while a companion smartphone app enables physiotherapists to manage training programs and monitor patient progress.
Ipad
Mobile
05. What I learned
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Even in a field as “pure” as patient rehabilitation, politics are part of the reality. As a product builder, you need to present your project in a way that speaks to each stakeholder’s perspective and helps them understand its value.
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In complex systems, every change - whether adding, removing, or adjusting - can affect many other aspects. Regularly revisiting the ideal use scenario helps ensure alignment with all other product features.
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Even when professionals present something as the only possible way, it's important to stay open to alternatives. Some ideas may seem odd or unrealistic at first, but they can lead to breakthroughs. That’s how I ended up integrating family members and friends into the system - people who are often present around the patient and can support their therapy.
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