During a video call, a physiotherapist closely watches as a family member helps a patient perform an exercise. A small device connected to a tablet hums softly. Hundreds of kilometres away, the therapist adjusts the treatment settings in real time. 

What looks like a simple virtual consultation is, in fact, something much bigger: a rehabilitation session delivered at home without the need for an in-person physiotherapist visit, with clinic-grade physiotherapy enabled through connected devices and remote monitoring. 

For millions of Indians recovering from paralysis, neurological disorders, injuries and surgeries, physiotherapy is not a one-time treatment. It often requires months, sometimes years, of consistent care. 

Yet for many families, especially those in smaller towns and rural areas, regular visits to a physiotherapy clinic are simply not possible.

This gap is what inspired Remote Physios, a health-tech startup founded by physiotherapists Dr Anant Singh Gaur and Dr Anubha Singhai, to build an AI- and IoT-powered rehabilitation platform that brings professional physiotherapy beyond clinic walls.

The child who sparked a bigger question

For Anant Singh Gaur and Dr Anubha Singhai, Remote Physios wasn't born in a boardroom. It emerged from nearly two decades spent working closely with patients and witnessing the same challenge unfold again and again.

The couple, who met during their physiotherapy studies and have been together since their undergraduate days, completed their postgraduate physiotherapy studies in 2008 and went on to build successful clinical careers. 

Anant specialised in neurology, while Anubha focused on clinical practice and patient care.

Over the years, they treated hundreds of patients recovering from paralysis, neurological conditions, injuries, and chronic pain. Yet, despite their best efforts, one thing continued to bother them.

"We always identified this gap," says Anubha. "Patients were not able to complete the number of sessions required for better recovery."

The issue wasn't a lack of motivation. For many families, daily travel to clinics was expensive, time-consuming, and often impossible. Once the immediate pain subsided, physiotherapy would slowly slip down the priority list, leaving recovery incomplete.

The couple tried different approaches — opening clinics, experimenting with home-care models, and conducting teleconsultations. 

But every solution seemed to hit the same wall: how could patients continue receiving quality physiotherapy without having to travel every day?

That question stayed with them for years before eventually becoming the foundation of Remote Physios.

One of the stories that stayed with Anant involved a four-and-a-half-year-old boy from Nasrullaganj, around 100 kilometres from Bhopal.

The child had developed Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), a rare autoimmune disorder that left both his arms and legs paralysed. His family were farmers, and daily travel to Bhopal for rehabilitation was nearly impossible.

"We started training family members and helping this patient on video calls," recalls Anant.

For a year, the family followed guided physiotherapy sessions remotely. Today, the child attends school and leads a much more independent life.

The case reinforced something Anant and Anubha had witnessed repeatedly during their 17 years as physiotherapists: patients rarely stop treatment because they don't need it. They stop because continuing it becomes too difficult.

Why physiotherapy often stops midway

India's physiotherapy ecosystem largely revolves around clinics and home visits. While this works well during the initial stages of........

© The Better India