Penarth Nub News aims to support our community - promoting shops, businesses, artists, charities, clubs and sports groups.

We are profiling some of these in a feature called 'Up Close in Penarth'.

Today, we introduce you to Denton Physio Technology and its wearable re.flex technology.

The pandemic has seen us make all sorts of changes to normal life, especially in terms of health. Before Covid, the idea of an online medical appointment may have been hard to imagine.

But Denton Physio Technology is looking to take these video consultations one step further, by incorporating wearable technology into physiotherapy treatments.

The company's chief operating officer Josh Lewis is a Penarth local, and he's hoping that more people will get to experience the benefits of this amazing 're.flex' technology.

"It uses sensors that connect via Bluetooth with the application, which allows you to see your leg in motion in real time, and send feedback to track your progress," Josh told Nub News.

"The technology is incredibly accurate. It's been developed in Romania and Germany in the last five years.

"Our CEO Richard Denton is a robotics automation technology entrepreneur. He needed to have his ACL reconstructed and found the NHS was taking too long and private healthcare was quite expensive.

"Richard went out to Romania to have it done, and it went really well. He was given this 'physio pack as part of his recovery and really enjoyed being able to have feedback, ask questions in real time, rather than experiencing that disconnect every two or three weeks between appointments.

"He thought it was amazing, and coincidently his sister is an NHS physio with 13 years' experience. So, they had the idea to bring it back to the UK and see how this how the solution would work here."

Rather than waiting for a GP appointment and getting a referral to a physiotherapist, patients can get started with Denton Physio Technology almost overnight.

"We can get you started from any point, beginning with a video consultation with our lead specialist physio," explained Josh.

"They would go through a virtual online assessment with you on a secure platform endorsed by the NHS.

"We will get you to fill out some subjective assessment forms online so we can just get a bit more engaged with your condition is before the session, and come up with a few outcome measures for tracking your progress.

"Then if you want to have a more bespoke program, we'll send the sensors directly to you, and take you through the technical setup program.

"This is where we show you how to connect the sensors, give some advice on calibration and charging the sensors, which is really simple because the app is so intuitive and then you're ready to start.

"You're able to speak with us 24/7 for medical or technical support through the messaging feature in the app."

The technology allows patients to connect with physiotherapists more frequently and efficiently.

"You can communicate with a physio in real time and ask questions that you normally have to wait between appointments for," said Josh.

"This also allows you to train from home, which is especially useful if you've got a busy lifestyle. To train flexibly is really beneficial and it's much more rewarding.

"Physios can also monitor the patient in real time, and offer corrections from a remote setting."

Josh explained how the technology is here to help physiotherapists, not replace them.

"We're not trying to take over physios here, we're just trying to take the pressure off and free up some time, perhaps for patients that do need to come in for a session," he said.

"This solution is not going to suit everyone, but there's going to be a certain population that this works very well for.

"We've found that to be a range: from teenagers to patients upwards of 70. We had one elderly patient who had never seen an iPad before and she had almost 100% adherence to treatment over a four-week period.

"It could be used for preventative work, for preoperative work, and postoperatively too."

As it develops, the technology looks set to revolutionise physiotherapy for patients and physiotherapists themselves.

"It's especially good for an industry that has so long not moved forward with technology," said Josh.

"We're very aware when there's a new computer or gaming console and things that move forward very quickly.

"But this is an industry that hasn't had as much development or moved at such a fast pace because we haven't had the opportunity to move forward.

"Video consultation has really come into play this year, let alone wearable technology which allows remote monitoring.

"It's accelerated us into a new way of looking at things to make the system more efficient for the NHS, because there's such a large backlog of patients.

"We would love to have this adopted widely, perhaps on a national scale."

To find out more about Denton Physio Technology, click here .