The health resort area Hopfen am See is known throughout Germany as a center for relaxation and health with its spa hotels, sanatoriums, and specialist clinics. Located directly on the crystal clear Hopfensee in Bavaria, Therapiezentrum Eggensberger offers medical treatments for body and mind. In addition to traditional treatment methods, the facility uses a digital approach to gait analysis – with the Lindera SturzApp.

In 1999, Andreas Eggensberger took over his parents’ business, Kurklinik Eggensberger. In his 22 years of professional experience, the Managing Director and Head of Therapy relied on video-based gait analysis even before Lindera, but he had no objective method to fall back on. Since the introduction of the Lindera Mobility Analysis in the summer of 2020, Andreas Eggensberger and his team have had a precise and objective tool at their disposal. With the Lindera SturzApp, the specialists record a 20 to 30-second video of the client’s gait behavior using the camera of a smartphone or tablet. In conjunction with a short questionnaire, the app relies on artificial intelligence to create a detailed analysis and individual recommendations to prevent falls, which are incorporated into the therapy.

“We have been carrying out gait analyzes on our patients for 30 years,” says Andreas Eggensberger. “We were thrilled when we discovered the Lindera SturzApp, because it surpasses our capabilities quite a bit. And if someone can do something better than you can, then you should work with them – that’s what we did.” The pivotal point for the Head of Therapy for using the Lindera App was the objectification of the step height and the forward and sideways tilt of a person, which could be recorded with pinpoint precision by means of the digital Mobility Analysis. He was also convinced by the overview of the gait analysis and case history, which gives you a possible fall risk in percentage points.

“We could already see a person tilting to the side or front in the still images of our video recordings,” says Andreas Eggensberger. “However, we used a protractor to manually do the subsequent calculation, and editing and printing the pictures also cost us a lot of time. And the question we were left with at the end: Will the client understand the results based on a picture?”

In-house team seeks digital solutions

Before actual implementation of the Lindera SturzApp, the team at Therapiezentrum Eggensberger had to ask themselves the question of whether their own therapy approaches match those of the Berlin-based company, Lindera: While Lindera pursues a geriatric approach with its Mobility Analysis and the app is used particularly in the care field, the therapy center focuses on orthopedic rehabilitation. Both areas involve the prevention of everyday and sporting falls, but compared to care facilities, the patients in Hopfen am See are significantly younger. The therapy center is primarily visited by people who still live at home, who need rehabilitation, or who want specific advice after their rehabilitation, for example if they want to go hiking in the mountains.

After carrying out various tests, it became clear to Andreas Eggensberger that nothing stood in the way of using the Lindera SturzApp. The Mobility Analysis won everyone’s vote after the so-called timed “Up and Go” test. To determine the risk of falling, we measure the time it takes for a person to get up from a chair, walk four meters, and sit back down. The longer it takes, the higher the personal risk of falling. “There’s only one catch”, explains Eggensberger. “When people come to therapy at our facility, they learn to get up slowly and sit down very deliberately so that they don’t fall.” In its fall analysis, however, the Lindera SturzApp only calculates the speed as one aspect and also assesses the gait pattern, for example.

Since autumn 2020, it has also been delivering pinpoint results at Therapiezentrum Eggensberger. The team of eight therapists has already carried out over 20 analyzes over the past nine months.

Important exchange on equal footing

The patients at the therapy center are positive about using the Lindera SturzApp; video recordings are not new territory for them. But what is new for them, is that the risk of falling can now be shown in figures and percentages – this also makes it easier for therapists to give their clients tangible recommendations for action.

In order to further develop the use of the Lindera app in orthopedic rehabilitation, Lindera and Andreas Eggensberger are still exchanging ideas. Since the result sheet of the Lindera Mobility Analysis has primarily been aimed at seniors up to now, it currently doesn’t correspond to the therapy center’s target group. “We are working together with Lindera on how we can better explain the results to our clients,” says Eggensberger.

Andreas Eggensberger sees great opportunity in combining traditional and digital methods. “As therapists, we like to have actual physical contact with people, and it’s good for people. But digitization is also extremely important – together, it’s the whole package.”