From smartphone data to validated recovery metrics

Method

Longitudinal activity in everyday settings

Smartphone-derived activity can provide objective information about movement outside traditional clinic visits. A phone cannot capture every aspect of physical activity, especially when a person is not carrying it. However, calibrating activity after surgery against what a person did before surgery, alongside consistent day-to-day measurement, can still show relative changes in activity over time.

AfterSurg establishes an activity baseline before an intervention where the project design allows. It can then describe recovery patterns across days and weeks, with outputs configured for the approved purpose of each project.

Research uses

Clinical questions the platform can support

• Remote and longitudinal follow-up of study participants
• Comparison of recovery patterns between treatments, technologies or participant groups
• Evaluation of recovery after a procedure or healthcare intervention
• Development and assessment of digital outcome measures
• Patient experiences of digital recovery feedback and how these change over time
• Clinical audit and service evaluation within an approved pathway

Regulatory information

Intended role and clinical limitations

AfterSurg is a UKCA-marked Class I medical device registered with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

AfterSurg provides activity-based recovery information in accordance with its defined intended purpose. It does not provide a diagnosis and is not a substitute for clinical assessment, professional judgement or appropriate follow-up care. Information from AfterSurg should not be used in isolation to make decisions about an individual patient’s treatment or care.