ForceIQ Knowledge Base
Read the curve like a researcher. Without the research overhead.
The "why" behind every metric, every warning, and every judgment call you make on the curve. Written by the team building the platform — for the clinicians using it.
Getting Started
Physical test setup, patient instructions, first session end-to-end.
Adding patients
Two ways to get patients into ForceIQ (one at a time from the patient list, or in bulk from a CSV) and a map of which fields actually drive behavior downstream. The fields you might be tempted to skip are usually the ones that quietly turn metrics off elsewhere in the app.
patientsonboardingcsv importheightBrowser and device support for live Capture
Capturing directly from a dynamometer uses Web Bluetooth, which only runs in Chromium-based browsers on desktop or Android. This article covers what works, what does not, and why, so you can set up a machine that pairs on the first try.
capturebluetoothbrowser supportandroidClinic and team setup
How the clinic profile, member roles, and seat counts fit together, and what each piece of information is used for. The clinic profile drives report branding; member roles drive permissions and patient access; seat count drives billing. Get the owner / admin / clinician split right early because it controls who can do what across the platform.
clinicteamrolesonboardingPre-test checklist
A condensed printable companion to the full isometric knee extension protocol. One page, scannable, what to do before the patient sits down, while you're setting up, in the cueing minute, during the trial, and between trials. Print it, post it next to the testing station, and use it as a reference rather than a memory aid.
checklistprotocolquick referenceknee extensionPreparing the patient for their first MVIC
A short, plain-language script for the minute before the test starts. What the strap will feel like, what pre-loading means, what the cue is and why it matters, what happens between trials. Most first-session quality issues are explainable here, not on the chart.
patient communicationcueingfirst sessionMVICReading the dashboard
The dashboard has two states. With no patient selected, it shows a clinic-wide view of activity, recent patients, and anyone flagged for follow-up. With a patient selected, it shows that patient's most recent visit, their longitudinal trends per metric, and the LSI radar. This walks through what every tile, table, and chart on those views is actually telling you.
dashboardLSItrendsclinic overviewRunning an MVIC, and choosing the knee angle for your device
A maximal isometric contraction is only as good as its baseline. Which knee angle you test at depends on whether your dynamometer can account for limb weight. This article explains why 90 degrees is the pragmatic default on hand-held and tension-gauge devices.
mvicprotocolknee anglertdSetting up a reliable isometric knee extension assessment
The clinically validated protocol for measuring isometric knee extensor strength, from positioning to cueing to what the curve should look like, including why RTD wants 90 degrees on a tension-gauge device even though peak torque is anchored at 60. Get the setup right and ForceIQ inherits the rigor; get it wrong and the metrics inherit the slop.
protocolknee extensionpositioningcueingTaring the dynamometer and what a good baseline looks like
Taring the device and the platform's baseline-correction step are two different operations on the same problem. This walks through what each does, why a small amount of resting pretension is actually favorable on tension-gauge dynamometers (it makes countermovement visible), and when to retare mid-session.
tarebaselinecalibrationsetupTranslating published metrics to what ForceIQ shows
When a paper reports RFD at 50 ms or CV at 20% MVC or Yank in N/s, how does that map to what the platform shows on the metric tile? A practical bridge for clinicians reading the literature, with the most common units, window conventions, and normalization differences spelled out.
literatureunitsnormalizationRFDWhen a device won't pair or stays disconnected
Troubleshooting flow for the most common BLE pairing problems (device-on-but-not-discovered, pairs-then-drops, auto-shutoff between sets). Device-agnostic guidance organized around what the symptom actually is, not which dynamometer you have.
bluetoothtroubleshootingconnectivitydevice pairingYour first session
Most ForceIQ sessions are captured live over Bluetooth, not uploaded from a file. Pair your device once, set up the protocol, and the metric suite is on screen the moment the contraction ends. File upload still works for offline data, but Capture is the path that produces the cleanest result with the least friction.
captureonboardingbluetoothfirst session
Measuring Force
The metric reference. The "why" behind each number, with worked examples.
Custom metrics, the outcome measures the force curve can't capture
Force and torque describe one slice of recovery. Hop tests, range of motion, and patient-reported outcomes describe the rest, and return-to-sport decisions hold up better when all of them sit on one timeline. How to use the Clinical Outcomes panel, which hop tests carry the most information, and where the evidence says outcome measures help and where it says they don't.
custom metricsclinical outcomeshop testspatient-reported outcomesLimb Symmetry Index, the weighted average and what the headline hides
How LSI is computed across the metric set, why per-metric components are capped at 100% before averaging, and what the "lowest metric" surface beside the headline is for. A green overall LSI does not mean every component is recovered, and the radar usually tells the more useful story.
LSIlimb symmetryreturn to sportweighted averagePeak force, peak torque, and mass-normalized values
The headline strength number. What it means, what it doesn't capture on its own, when to read it in force vs torque vs mass-normalized form, and how it relates to the other metrics on the same trial.
peak forcepeak torquenormalizationstrengthRTD Late, sustained force development from 100 to 200 ms
RTD Late is the rate of force development across the 100 to 200 ms window from onset. Unlike RTD Early, which is dominated by neural drive, the late window is dominated by the muscle's own contractile machinery. Read it alongside RTD Early; the relationship between the two windows is more informative than either alone.
RTDexplosive strengthsustained forcecontractile propertiesSteadiness, reading nRMSE, CV, and Yank together
The three plateau-window metrics on every session (nRMSE, CV, and Yank) are not redundant. They answer different questions about the same hold, how much the patient deviated from peak, how variable their output was around the mean, and how smoothly the variation moved. Reading them as a triple is what the literature argues for, and it's what the platform surfaces.
steadinessnRMSECVYankWhat RTD Early actually means
Rate of Torque Development in the first 75ms reflects explosive, neurally driven force production. The ACL return-to-sport literature has been pointing at it for years. This is how ForceIQ computes it, what the number means clinically, and when to weight it heavily in your read.
RTDexplosive strengthreturn to sportACL
Data Quality
The judgment calls clinicians make on the curve.
Choosing the contraction type, MVIC vs RTD vs submaximal hold
The contraction-intent setting tells the analysis layer which metrics belong on the screen. An RTD or ballistic set has no plateau, so steadiness metrics are correctly hidden. A submaximal hold has no explosive rise, so the RTD windows are hidden. This is how to pick and why the choice changes what you see.
contraction intentMVICRTDsubmaximal holdCorrecting the auto-detected onset
The platform's onset detection is good but not infallible. When the auto-detected onset is wrong, a single click on the chart sets it where it actually belongs and every downstream metric recomputes from the override. The original index is preserved on the session for audit.
onsetmanual overridedata qualityauditInspecting and editing trials
How to read a captured trial, move through the trials in a session, and decide what each one needs. This is the map that ties the onset-override and exclude-or-delete workflows together, so you know which tool a given curve calls for before you reach for it.
data qualitycurve reviewtrialsonsetReading drift warnings
Two warning banners can appear on a session after the metrics compute. Pre-loaded tare warns that the strap was already loaded before the contraction began (which biases peak and shifts onset). Post-release rebound warns that the trace did not return to baseline after the release (which usually means the strap migrated under load). This walks what each banner is detecting, what it means clinically, and whether to act on it.
drifttarewarningsbaselineSampling rate, RTD reliability, and what the badge actually means
Sample rate matters for RTD and almost nothing else. The platform flags low, moderate, and high RTD reliability based on how many samples actually land inside the 0 to 75 ms window. This walks through what the three tiers look like on real signals, which devices land in which tier, and when a low-confidence badge should change your read.
sampling rateRTD reliabilitysignal processingreliability badgeThe steadiness reliability flag
The steadiness badge fires when the platform detects that hardware quantization or transition rate is limiting how much of nRMSE / CV / Yank reflects real motor control versus the device's own resolution floor. Device-agnostic by design, and what to do when it appears.
steadinessreliabilityquantizationhardwareWhen to exclude a trial, and when to delete instead
Excluding pulls a trial out of patient-level aggregates but keeps it on the record for audit. Deleting removes it from the session entirely. Here's how to tell which one a given curve calls for, with the common cases that come up in clinic.
data qualityexcludedeletejudgment
IsoForge
Training-side guidance distinct from assessment.
Choosing an IsoForge game mode
IsoForge has four game modes (Hold Steady, Make Waves, Take Flight, Rapid Fire). They're not cosmetic variants; each one probes a different motor-control task and recruits different neural computations. This walks through what each mode does, when to pick each, and why the published evidence treats them as distinct rather than interchangeable.
IsoForgegame modeshold steadymake wavesDosing IsoForge sessions across a rehab block
Frequency, set count, set duration, and progression rules for an IsoForge training block. A practical starting framework rather than a prescriptive protocol, because the right dose is patient-specific and the published evidence on isometric biofeedback training is too sparse to support a one-size-fits-all recipe.
IsoForgedosingfrequencyprogressionReading IsoForge training summaries
An IsoForge session saves a training summary, not the full clinical metric suite. The two surfaces are kept separate deliberately because they answer different questions. Assessment metrics tell you where the patient is. Training summaries tell you how the training is going. This walks through what each summary contains, what it does and doesn't replace, and how to use the two together across a rehab block.
IsoForgetraining summaryclinical metricsassessmentSetting submaximal targets from a recent MVIC
How to pick the target force for IsoForge submaximal work, why the percent-of-MVIC framing matters, and what target ranges make sense at different points in a rehab block. The platform can auto-populate the target from the patient's most recent assessment; the choice of percentage is still yours.
IsoForgesubmaximaltarget settingMVIC
Exporting & Reports
Getting data out: PDF reports, CSV downloads, and sharing results.
Exporting reports and downloading data
Two ways to get data out of ForceIQ. A clinic-branded PDF report for the patient chart or a follow-up visit, and CSV downloads (wide or long format) for spreadsheet analysis. This walks through what each section of the PDF contains, how to scope a report to a single assessment or a full visit, and when to reach for each CSV format.
reportsPDFCSV exportdocumentationSharing results with patients and referrers
The ways to get an assessment in front of someone outside the clinic, from PDF and CSV export to emailing a secure link straight to a patient or referrer, and the PHI rules that govern who receives what.
sharingemailreferralPHI
Account & Billing
Plans, seats, upgrades, and the free-tier limits.
Canceling or pausing a subscription
How cancellation works, what happens to your patients and sessions when a paid plan ends, and what reverts to free-tier behavior.
cancelsubscriptiondata retentionbillingFree-tier limits and what counts toward them
The free tier's two caps (patient profiles and monthly sessions, counting both uploads and real-time Capture trials), what counts against each, what stays free after you hit a cap, and which features sit outside the free tier entirely.
free tierlimitsusageupgradePlans and what each one includes
The free tier versus a paid per-seat subscription, what comes with each, how IsoForge gating works, and where Enterprise pricing fits.
planspricingfree tierseatsUpgrading and adding seats
How to move from the free tier to a paid subscription, add or remove clinician seats as your team changes, and how billing responds when the seat count changes.
upgradeseatsbillingsubscription