The vertigo therapy app Vertidisan by Digitineers, technically implemented by QuickBird Medical, is setting new standards in digital care. A publication in Deutsches Ärzteblatt by physicians from the university hospitals of Aachen, Munich and Tübingen (Deutsches Ärzteblatt, 212 patients) compared app-based therapy with conventional physiotherapy.
Significant therapy success in comparison
In the study with 212 patients, the results of app-based therapy were compared with those of conventional physiotherapy. The results underline the effectiveness of the digital approach:
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Vertidisan app: 88% of users reported a marked reduction in vertigo thanks to the integrated exercise videos.
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Conventional physiotherapy: Here, a comparable improvement was achieved in just under 25% of patients.
An advantage through regularity and availability
According to Stephan Wolpert, senior physician and head of the vertigo centre at the University ENT Hospital in Tübingen, this is mainly due to the regularity of the exercises. He was involved in the study himself: “We were able to show that an app like this can care for patients better than referring them to a physiotherapist.” This is not a question of the quality of physiotherapy. Rather, health insurers only cover six sessions per prescription from a general practitioner.
One patient in the study describes the outcome after four years of chronic vertigo as “a small miracle” and reports feeling “like a normal person” again.
Technical implementation and certification by QuickBird Medical
QuickBird Medical supported the project as strategic development partner of Digitineers. The team was responsible for the complete technical implementation of the app in compliance with medical device regulatory requirements. A key part of this was producing the IEC 62304-compliant documentation, which forms a necessary basis for approval as a regulated software medical device.