Development of a digital MedTech platform

Magic Smile is a digital MedTech platform designed to support orthodontic treatment of children using aligners. Instead of creating a separate mobile application, it was decided to build a single digital ecosystem that unites doctors, parents and children in one product.

The project includes a web platform for doctors, an administrative dashboard for clinics and patients, a mobile application for children and parents, a web version of the application (PWA), a QR authorization system, treatment gamification, push notifications and the publication of applications in the App Store and Google Play.

The main goal of the platform is to increase the discipline of treatment, reduce the burden on doctors and parents, and make the long process of wearing aligners more understandable and interesting for the child.

Prior to the start of the project, there was no single digital treatment support system.

Doctors guided patients manually, communication took place via phone and messengers, and monitoring compliance with recommendations was almost entirely dependent on parents.

The customer needed to create a modern product that could accompany the child throughout the entire course of treatment, while providing the doctor with a full-fledged patient management system.

At the same time, the application had to meet the requirements of publishing children’s apps on the App Store and Google Play, ensure secure storage of medical data, and support different work scenarios for children of different ages.

The project turned out to be much larger than a regular mobile application.

In fact, it was necessary to develop several interrelated products.

For doctors

• A web-based clinic management platform;
• doctor management system;
• CRM of patients;
• treatment cards;
• calendar of visits;
• treatment history;
• uploading patient photos;
• storage of medical documents;
• doctor’s comments;
• QR generation for each patient;
• a notification system for parents.

For parents

• separate application interface;
• receiving notifications from a doctor;
• monitoring the child’s treatment;
• information about upcoming visits;
• history of techniques;
• doctor’s recommendations.

For a child

• personal game interface;
• treatment support;
• daily reminders;
• the game character Smilo;
• training in the care of aligners;
• video guides;
• motivation system;
• treatment progress;
• game economy.

All three parts work with a single server system.

Initially, the development of a full-fledged native mobile application was considered.

However, the MVP budget did not allow for the simultaneous creation of separate apps for iOS and Android.

Therefore, the architecture was chosen:

• a single Vue codebase;
• Web version (PWA);
• Flutter Wrapper for publishing on the App Store and Google Play;
• a single Python Backend.

This approach has significantly reduced the cost of development, preserved the same functionality on all devices, and ensured the rapid release of updates without the support of several independent projects.

The result is a full-fledged digital product.

Doctors’ Web platform

A proprietary administrative system has been developed for medical personnel.

Doctors can:

• create patients;
• generate QR codes;
• prescribe treatment;
• Track your progress;
• keep a history of receptions;
• attach photos;
• upload PDF documents;
• leave comments;
• plan sessions;
• transfer patients to the archive.

Almost all of the doctor’s work is now concentrated in one system.

QR authorization

One of the features of the platform is authorization exclusively by QR code.

The QR code is automatically created after the patient is registered by the doctor.

Next, the code can be used:

• As a child;
• a parent;
• after reinstalling the app;
• simultaneously on multiple devices of the same family.

This made it possible to avoid complicated registration and simplify the first acquaintance of users with the system as much as possible.

Children’s app

Special attention was paid to the child.

The app was supposed to not only remind you about the treatment, but motivate you to follow the doctor’s recommendations every day.

For this purpose, the following were implemented:

• the interactive character Smilo;
• educational videos;
• dental cleaning support;
• video guide on using aligners;
• reminders;
• visual treatment progress;
• before and after photos;
• congratulations on the stages of treatment.

There are two versions of the interface.:

• for younger children;
• for teenagers.

The interface type is selected by the doctor when creating the patient.

One of the most interesting parts of the project was the full-fledged game economy.

The child receives daily game coins for following the doctor’s recommendations:

• brushing your teeth;
• timely removal of aligners;
• re-donning;
• compliance with the treatment regimen.

Experience (XP) is awarded separately, which the child receives for viewing educational materials.

XP is used to unlock new content, and coins are used to buy accessories for the Smilo character.

There are dozens of items available in the store:

• glasses;
• caps;
• headphones;
• raincoats;
• crowns;
• rare accessories.

The game balance was calculated in such a way that during the full course of treatment, the child regularly discovered new customization elements, maintaining interest in the application for almost two years.

Another feature of the project was the system of gradual discovery of training materials.

Instead of showing the child all the information at once, the app opens new videos on its own as the treatment progresses.

For example:

• first day — getting to know the aligners;
• a few days later — departure;
• Later — Chewie;
• then the attachments;
• Before changing the mouth guard for the first time, the replacement instructions are opened.

Thus, learning takes place exactly when it is really necessary.

AI was used not only in the internal logic of the project, but also in the creation of visual content.

With the help of Leonardo AI, we have developed:

• the Smilo character;
• game images;
• accessories;
• illustrations;
• visual interface elements;
• part of the animation materials.

The use of generative AI has significantly reduced the preparation time for a large amount of graphics and preserved a unified visual style of the product.

The system implements a flexible notification system.

The doctor can independently configure the message sending scenarios.

The app reminds you:

• about the need to wear aligners;
• about changing the mouth guard;
• about brushing teeth;
• about using Chewie;
• about the upcoming visit;
• about the completion of the treatment stage;
• about achieving new game goals.

Since the project works with children’s personal medical data, special attention was paid to safety issues.

The system implements:

• secure HTTPS connection;
• JWT authentication;
• QR tokens;
• differentiation of user roles;
• data storage on the customer’s server;

encryption of personal data.

The most difficult part of the project was not the development of interfaces at all.

The main difficulties were in designing the entire digital ecosystem.

It was necessary to synchronize the work of several roles at once:

• The doctor;
• the parent;
• The child;
• the administrator.

Every doctor’s action had to be instantly reflected in the family’s apps.

An additional challenge was the publication of a children’s app in the App Store. The moderation process took about two months and required several iterations of approval to fully comply with Apple’s requirements for apps for children.

It also took a lot of time to develop Flutter Wrapper, which ensured stable operation of PWA inside mobile applications, support for push notifications and publication in both stores.

An interdisciplinary team worked on the project.:

• Backend developer (Python);
• Frontend developer (Vue.js );
• UI/UX designer;
• Team Lead;
• Project Manager;
• QA engineer.

The total implementation period was about ten months.

As a result, a full-fledged digital MedTech platform was created that unites doctors, parents and children in a single ecosystem.

The project includes:

• a web-based platform for doctors;
• CRM of patients;
• the administrative system;
• PWA;
• mobile apps for iOS and Android;
• QR authorization;
• game mechanics;
• the push notification system;
• educational video service;
• secure storage of medical data.

At the time of the case preparation, the product has already been published in the App Store and Google Play and is undergoing pilot testing in one of the clinics of the Magic Smile network.

Project results

• We have created a single MedTech platform instead of a set of separate services.
• We have developed a web-based system for doctors and an administrative control panel.
• We have launched PWA and mobile apps for iOS and Android based on a common code base.
• We have implemented secure work with medical data and QR authorization.
• We have integrated gamification, educational videos and a motivation system for children.
• We have published applications in the App Store and Google Play.
• We used generative AI to create characters and visual content.
• We have prepared a platform for scaling to new clinics and thousands of patients.