Plasticise was developed by physiotherapists Sarah Turner APAM and Kumbelin Levin APAM and allows physiotherapists to film their patient doing an exact exercise, while providing verbal cues, so the patient can watch it back and follow along at home. 

‘We created Plasticise because nothing did what we needed it to,’ Sarah told the Pitchfest audience. 

The app is already available to users—not just physiotherapists but other allied health clinicians—and, according to Sarah, has almost 60 therapists across a number of practices using it with more than 900 clients. 

Plasticise will receive $15,000 in prize money, which Sarah and Kumbelin plan to spend on further improvements to the app, including AI summaries and gamified motivation loops to help drive positive behaviour change. 

The winners were announced during Physio Pitchfest, a Physiotherapy Research Foundation (PRF) initiative dedicated to celebrating innovative solutions and ideas that address unmet clinical needs, advance practice and improve patient wellbeing. 

Held during the Friday morning plenary session, this year’s Pitchfest was hosted by innovation expert Nils Vesk. 

In addition to the Judges’ Award, a People’s Choice Award of $5000 was presented to Refr Health, an AI-powered digital platform that streamlines the process of referring to specialists and for imaging, allowing physiotherapists to quickly get a GP referral without the patient having to visit the GP. 

Refr Health co-founder and sports physiotherapist Daniel Patterson APAM said that the platform is a triage system that allows physiotherapists and other allied health clinicians to send the patient exactly where they need to go, with GP-signed referrals sent to the patient directly within 15 minutes. 

The other four finalists were: 

• IX Cricket Pro, a physiotherapy-led wearable for injury prevention in young cricketers at risk of lumbar stress fractures, developed by Adam Daniels APAM
• FitChair, a resistance exercise chair for older people developed by APA Titled Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist Jack O’Leary MACP and occupational therapist Jonathan Giannini
• 3D Clover Ankle Strap, a four-way strap with velcro attachment to address ankle discomfort during GLA:D osteoarthritis exercises such as seated knee flexion and extension, developed by Julie Sheahan APAM
• Knee OA Toolkit, a knee osteoarthritis toolkit developed by APA Titled Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist Kim Ward MACP that provides guideline-based education and exercise in a digital, self-management format. 

During the judges’ deliberations, Nils provided the audience with some ideas for innovating in five minutes a day. 

He told the audience that everyone could find five minutes to think about problems in different ways and that this could improve business results and provide a competitive advantage. 

>> Keep an eye on InMotion in 2026 as we profile the winners and finalists of PRF Physio Pitchfest and their innovative products.