ScienceSoft Healthcare
ScienceSoft Finance
AcuFlex: First-of-Its-Kind Clinician‑Ready Movement Assessment Platform for S.A.E. Orthopedics
Summary
ScienceSoft delivered an MVP of AcuFlex, an innovative slant board-connected movement assessment platform, for S.A.E. Orthopedics. The solution enables real-time tracking of dorsiflexion and joint mobility, as well as historical analytics of clinician-guided stretching sessions, across mobile and web apps for clinicians and researchers.
About S.A.E. Orthopedics
S.A.E. Orthopedics is a medical technology startup based in Illinois. The company was founded by Dr. J. Michael Davis, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with over 30 years of clinical experience and a strong background in medical device research. S.A.E. Orthopedics was established to bring to life Dr. Davis’s vision of a more measurable, personalized approach to musculoskeletal recovery.
To address the limitations of traditional rehabilitation tools, which often rely on subjective visual assessment, S.A.E. Orthopedics designed AcuFlex — a smart slant board system equipped with four motion sensors positioned behind the knees and under the heels to capture real-time dorsiflexion range of motion, joint mobility data, and indicators of posterior chain tissue behavior. The team created a functional hardware prototype in-house using off-the-shelf components and partnered with a third-party manufacturer to scale it to production.
However, to transform the prototype into a market-ready product, S.A.E. Orthopedics needed custom firmware, mobile and web apps for clinicians, and the back-end infrastructure for the connected solution. ScienceSoft came into the picture as a technology partner with over 20 years of experience in healthcare IT. Together, the teams set out to build an MVP suitable for clinical validation and investor demonstrations.
From an Early Prototype to a Functional MVP: Building the AcuFlex Platform
To bring AcuFlex to life, ScienceSoft assembled a cross-functional project team that included a project manager, a compliance officer, a business analyst (consultant), a UI/UX designer, iOS and Android developers, back-end and front-end developers, a C++ engineer, DevOps specialists, and QA engineers.
Due to its expected prevalence among the target audience (clinicians in physical rehabilitation), iOS was selected as the primary mobile platform for the MVP to accelerate initial delivery. The project kicked off with a proof of concept (PoC), in which ScienceSoft’s iOS developers created a lightweight app that connected to the board via Bluetooth, captured raw mobility data, and computed preliminary dorsiflexion metrics. It was used to validate the core concept and present it to S.A.E. Orthopedics’ internal stakeholders and investors.
Early testing revealed unstable data transmission between the sensors and the app. The root cause was traced to signal interference from nearby wireless networks and internal noise in the device's wiring. To address this, ScienceSoft’s engineers modified the board’s hardware to improve signal quality by implementing techniques such as filtering and electrical isolation. These measures brought a measurable improvement, as test sessions began to run reliably in both home and clinical settings. The changes are now slated for adoption across the full product line to ensure consistent performance in real-world scenarios.
With reliable data flow in place, ScienceSoft proceeded to develop the core clinical functionality required for real-world evaluation. Building on the PoC, the iOS app was extended to support patient profile management, automatic device pairing, and calculation of several key mobility metrics. During 1–5-minute sessions, the system shows:
- Maximum, minimum, and average joint angles (knees and ankles, separately for each leg).
- Real-time angle dynamics across the session.
- A session-specific optimal flexibility angle that can support future load planning and individual rehabilitation programs.
Alongside the mobile app, ScienceSoft developed web interfaces for two user roles: clinicians, who can review patient-specific session results, and researchers, who can export aggregated, de-identified data for scientific purposes. The solution’s back end, deployed on AWS, manages session data routing and storage, while key calculations are performed directly on the mobile device. This architecture was chosen to reduce system complexity, offload processing from the cloud, and ensure the app remains responsive even in environments with limited internet connectivity. Since the calculations involve only real-time sensor data and not large-scale retrospective analytics, it was determined that modern smartphones can handle them without any performance tradeoffs.
As the pilot version entered real-world testing, ScienceSoft proceeded to expand the platform in line with the planned MVP scope, adding:
- Security and governance enhancements, including multifactor authentication (time-based one-time password), automatic logoff, audit logging, and encrypted device connections.
- Patient list management and historical trend dashboards for rehabilitation sessions.
- Guided session materials (visuals and descriptions).
- PDF export of patient session reports.
- An Android version of the mobile app.
- Admin tools for centrally managing hospitals, users, and devices connected to the platform.
In addition to software development, ScienceSoft supported S.A.E. Orthopedics in preparing for FDA submission. ScienceSoft’s compliance specialist assembled the software-related documentation, including the cybersecurity file and the software risk management plan required by the FDA. The team also assisted S.A.E. Orthopedics with navigating the regulatory landscape for connected healthcare products, providing practical guidance on FDA expectations and documentation requirements.
Dr. J. Michael Davis, Founder and CEO of S.A.E. Orthopedics, says:
We came to ScienceSoft with a concept for a connected movement assessment and injury prevention system and a very tight deadline. We needed a product that would perform reliably in clinical environments, support data‑informed care, and be compelling enough to present to investors.
AcuFlex™ combines a sensor‑enabled slant board with secure software to objectively measure ankle dorsiflexion range of motion, joint mobility, and the viscoelastic behavior of the posterior chain — areas that have historically relied on subjective assessment. By capturing real‑time data during a controlled dorsiflexion task, the system gives clinicians clear insight into execution quality and enables more precise guidance across both Prehab and traditional Rehab. AcuFlex™ is designed for clinical, athletic, military, and home use under appropriate oversight.
ScienceSoft’s team ramped up quickly and was not afraid to challenge our early assumptions. They helped us refine the scope, focus on what mattered for an initial release, and avoid spending time and money on features that were not critical yet. As priorities shifted or testing surfaced new considerations, we worked through the tradeoffs together, and the team adapted without losing momentum.
Throughout the project, we had complete visibility into progress, risks, and decision points. ScienceSoft also supported the software components of FDA compliance and prepared key cybersecurity and risk‑management documentation that proved instrumental for our 510(k) pathway.
Partnering with ScienceSoft gave us confidence that AcuFlex was being built on the right foundation.
Key Outcomes for S.A.E. Orthopedics
- Delivery of a submission-ready, multi-role and multi-platform (iOS, Android, web) MVP for AcuFlex — ready for clinical validation and investor demos.
- A well-defined medical device product strategy and a software document package prepared for FDA 510(k) submission.
- Improved BLE connectivity with slant board sensors compared to early prototypes, thanks to the hardware modifications by ScienceSoft.
- Optimized software development costs thanks to feature decomposition and prioritization for the MVP.
Technologies and Tools
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon ECS, Amazon ECR, Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL, Amazon CloudFront, Amazon Cognito, Amazon ElastiCache, AWS Lambda, Amazon SQS, Amazon SES, Terraform, C++, Node.js, React.js, Swift, Kotlin.
