What if muscle function could be visible and measurable? SpineSync answers this question.

A wearable device that continuously tracks spinal muscle activity, it gives physiotherapists the objective data to treat the root cause, not just the symptoms, of back pain. SpineSync gives patients real visibility into their own recovery for the first time.

Understanding The Root Cause of Back Pain

SpineSync is a wearable electromyography EMG system that measures spinal muscle activity in real time. Back pain affects 1 in 4 adults, yet root cause goes unidentified in 90% of cases, because the key factor that matters most, how muscles actually function, is almost never measured. Physiotherapists treat symptoms through observation alone. SpineSync changes that: it detects which muscles are underperforming or overcompensating, automatically generates targeted corrective exercises, and gives clinicians objective data between appointments. This shifts treatment from observation to evidence-based precision, targeting the 70% relapse rate that defines current back pain management.

Both team members were diagnosed with scoliosis and underwent intensive physiotherapy. Treatment, although rigorous, offered no insight into whether muscles – a key driver- were improving. Through their personal frustration, SpineSync’s co-founders uncovered a greater systemic problem: muscle behaviour is almost never measured objectively in spinal rehabilitation, despite being one of the most common drivers of pain and recovery failure. Clinicians lack the tools to measure what matters, and consequently patients struggle to understand what’s really behind their pain.

SpineSync: Making the Invisible Visible 

Consumer wearables track movement, but not the underlying muscle activity. Physiotherapy relies heavily on observation. Clinical EMG systems (costing over £10,000) are confined to labs, require specialist operators and capture only brief snapshots in time.

SpineSync is the only solution that combines all three: the simplicity of a wearable with clinical-grade muscle measurement and real-time, automated analysis. Four wireless sensors stream continuous muscle data, while machine learning algorithms identify dysfunction and generate targeted exercise recommendations.

The device has been built from the ground up to bring clinical-level insight into everyday physiotherapy use. With SpineSync, clinicians receive objective data between sessions, and patients understand their recovery journey in real time.

The Hackstarter Journey

Hackstarter gave us the structure, resources and validation to move from concept to working prototype. We developed real-time muscle detection capabilities, built activation analysis algorithms, and designed a system that links muscle patterns to personalised rehabilitation plans. Beyond the technical build, the programme helped us validate the clinical need: we’ve since secured letters of intent from six physiotherapy and elite sport partners across five countries, including interest from a Harley Street spine rehab clinic and the Romanian Olympic Gymnastics team.

Learning, Building and Looking Ahead

The next step is to pilot SpineSync with real patients across partner clinics, generating the clinical data needed to train and validate the machine learning algorithm, to confirm device reliability and demonstrate measurable outcomes in a real-world setting.

Long term, we want to make objective muscle measurement a standard part of spinal care, enabling earlier intervention, personalised recovery and better outcomes for the millions of people who never get a real answer about their pain. Eventually, we aim to extend into closed-loop neuromuscular feedback, where the system actively guides correction in real time, and eventually into sports injury prevention, neurological recovery, and any field where muscle function drives outcomes.