Dolox: a smart watch to track your pain
Ghentians experiment with innovative solutions to make healthcare more understandable. Meet 'Dolox': a smart watch designed to help you track your physical pain. This clever solution was developed under the wing of Comon. During one of the Microlabs on understandable healthcare, a diverse team refined this idea into a functional prototype.
How does Dolox work?
Dolox is a watch that allows users to record their pain levels (1–10) at set times and answer questions like “Where is the pain located?” and “What type of pain do you feel?” etc. Using a simple dial and click system, users can input this data. This information is uploaded three times a day to a dashboard, allowing doctors to easily monitor the data between consults. When the patients visits their doctor, a detailed overview of their pain experience is available to help tailor personalized treatment plans.
What makes Dolox stand out?
Dirk: “As a chronic pain patient, I’ve used countless digital tools to track my pain. They already exist. But they often require digital skills. Dolox is simple. It’s just a basic watch: turn, click, and done. Trust me, there are still plenty of tech novices in Ghent.” At the same time, the output is digital: the watch collects all the data on how your pain evolves and helps your doctor gain deeper insights.
The brain behind Dolox
- Maxim, graduated in Podiatry from Artevelde university of applied sciences
- Jeroen, Occupational Therapy student at Artevelde university of applied sciences
- Dirk, from Samana, an organization empowering chronic patients and caregivers
- Lotte and Tomas, from the Health and Care research and development center at Artevelde university of applied sciences
No Degree, yet an Inventor. Yes, it’s possible. Take Dirk, one of the brains behind Dolox. “Our invention helps chronic pain patients like me”, Dirk shares proudly. And he would know—he’s both part of the inventing team in the Microlabs and a chronic pain patient himself.
How did Dolox come into existence?
About fifty Ghent students from different programs and institutions participated in the Make-a-ton, brainstorming innovative solutions to make healthcare more understandable for all Ghent residents. The idea behind Dolox is equally simple as it is groundbreaking. For this reason the student team that conceived Dolox won both the Audience Award and the Jury Prize at the Make-a-ton.
“Inventing. That's what we do in this experimental phase at Comon.”
During one of Comon’s Microlabs, a diverse team of Ghent inventors developed the concept of Dolox, tested it, and refined it into a working prototype. This happened over five days during a design sprint, where the team explored design thinking, fast prototyping, and testing. Lotte: “I enjoyed the fast pace of the design sprint. For once, you don’t have to dive deeply into every detail.”
Tested by pain patients
During the design sprint, a rapid test version of Dolox was created, and several pain patients and healthcare providers were invited to test the concept. Their feedback was used to create the first version of Dolox.
Built by a Ghent Developer
After being tested and approved by various Ghent pain patients, local developer ENT Studios transformed the prototype into a functional tech device. Dolox was born—not just an innovative idea but a tangible solution for pain patients. Dirk: “The watch is lightweight and incredibly user-friendly.”
What's that, a Microlab?
Comon is all about experimenting and bringing people together. That’s precisely what happens during Microlabs. In these labs, diverse teams of inventors work on shaping and testing innovative ideas into functioning prototypes.
