Northwestern University researchers are studying physical activity of patients after spine surgery using Fitbit activity trackers, according to a MobiHealthNews report. The information could help surgeons monitor recovery time in the future.
Zachary Smith, MD, is the principal investigator of the study at Northwestern. He and his colleagues are focusing on patients who undergo minimally invasive spine surgery for degenerative disease and deformity in collaboration with researchers from the University of California San Francisco and New York University.
The International Spine Study Group is funding the study. Here are five things to know:
1. The Fitbit can monitor whether the patient returns to normal function and when in the recovery process functionality returns.
2. The researchers hope to use this information to predict when a patient will return to 50 percent activity, 100 percent activity or 200 percent activity in some cases.
3. Patients will track their activity for four weeks before surgery and six months after surgery.
4. The preliminary results show some patients have changed activity levels. In the four-to-six week period after surgery their activity decreases, but then returns to the preoperative level around one month after surgery and slowly climbs from there.
5. Fitbits are designed to track physical activity and measure heart rate.