Mendology

03/06/2025

The Day Everything Changed

March 12, 2020.

The press release went live. “New Mexico Startup Aims to Standardize Touch Pressure…” It was picked up by many affiliate markets. Featured on the news. Shared by people who saw the potential.

We had just launched our partnership with CNM Ingenuity to offer Intelligent Pressure training, real, evidence-based calibration of touch for nurses, OTs, PTs, EMTs, and massage therapists.

After seven product iterations, beta results, sucessful pilot, poster project partnerships and a vision no one else could see, we were ready.

That morning I spoke to digital marketing students on CNM’s campus. I shared what it meant to invent something from nothing. To build not just a tool, but an entirely new standard.

But by the time I got in the car to pick up my niece…
By the time we got home…

The world shut down.

That day, March 12, 2020, was the day it all paused.

After three years of building a platform designed to improve and standardize human touch, the unthinkable happened...

Touch became unsafe.

The very act at the center of our work was now a public health risk, and the entire market we built for; massage, wellness, hands-on care, was shut down overnight.

Not only could we not launch… We couldn’t even touch.
And everything I had spent years building suddenly felt like it was slipping through my hands.

The heartbreak was real.
But so was the vision.
And that vision didn’t die.
It adapted.

Today, Standard Touch® is more than a prototype.
Mendology is more than a dream.
We’re building with force standards, training, research, and real-world traction.

But I’ll never forget that day.
The way the world went silent.
And how, even then, I chose to keep going.

03/06/2025

In 2020, our vision for measurable touch went public.

This national press release marked a turning point: Standard Touch® wasn’t just an idea, it was becoming a movement.

We shared our mission to standardize how massage therapists and healthcare professionals talk about and apply pressure. Because vague terms like light, firm, and deep weren’t cutting it, not in the clinic, not in research, and not for clients seeking consistent care.

Since then, CNM Ingenuity, the enterprise arm of Central New Mexico Community College, partnered with Mendology to offer Intelligent Pressure trainings. These CEU-qualified sessions have served nurses, occupational and physical therapists, licensed massage therapists, EMTs, and more.

Whether on-site or hosted at CNM Ingenuity in Albuquerque, the goal is the same; calibrate human touch, certify clinical standards.

The vision hasn’t changed, make touch measurable. Make care accountable.

📖 Read the original article:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-mexico-startup-aims-to-standardize-touch-pressure-for-massage-therapists-other-healthcare-pros-301022432.html

/PRNewswire/ -- Most massage therapists ask clients how strong a massage they'd like – such as "light," "firm," and "deep." They make sense, but their meaning...

03/06/2025

Can We Calibrate Clinical Touch?

In collaboration with CNM Ingenuity, we set out to test something bold. Can we calibrate and standardize human-applied force in manual therapy and healthcare?

Seven interdisciplinary professionals; PTs, OTs, OTAs, EMTs, and LMTs, joined us for a one-day certification pilot, Fundamentals of Clinical Touch.

Each participant had their own Standard Touch® unit.

We began by measuring the variability behind everyday clinical language; terms like light, firm, and intense.

What we found confirmed what many of us have sensed for years, these words are used often, but mean something different to everyone.

We explored the impact of this variability on patient care, provider communication, and clinical research.

Then, participants practiced their techniques on the Standard Touch®, calibrating to five specific pressure levels.

They had to internalize what each level felt like, commit it to memory, and deliver it with consistency.

To earn certification, they applied all five pressures while blinded from the force display.

✅ 6 out of 7 passed all five levels, becoming the first Standard Touch® Certified Practitioners.
🔁 1 out of 7 passed four levels.

This pilot marked a turning point in manual therapy, from abstract to measurable. From guesswork to grounded standards.

And it happened in just one day.

All because we asked one question:
Can we certify manual therapy pressure to a standard?

03/06/2025

When we launched the Standard Touch® beta, we thought we were testing a tool. What we discovered was a system-wide blind spot.

In partnership with Central New Mexico Community College, Lymphedema & Lipedema of New Mexico, Chamisa Hills Family Dental, and Living Waters Physical Therapy, we conducted the first real-world study of how manual pressure is applied, classified, and experienced.

Key Findings:

0% of consumers reported consistent pressure between professionals.
Terms like gentle, light, firm, and deep meant drastically different things to each person.
Some "firm" classifications showed over 100% pressure variability—with some therapists unknowingly applying forces rated as unsafe.
A single use of Standard Touch reduced variability across all pressure classifications.

And yet, the most powerful insights came from the participants themselves:

🗣️ “I think it’s brilliant!”
🗣️ “Very interesting and it will be helpful in education.”
🗣️ “I want more practice on it.”
🗣️ “I really enjoyed this!”
🗣️ “I like it a lot.”

The average satisfaction rating of the Standard Touch Experience? 4.61 out of 5.

What we thought would be a one-time pilot became the spark that led to a complete system:
→ Blinded assessments
→ Therapist calibration
→ Consumer preference maps
→ Pressure standards
→ Training, certification, and real-time feedback

Because variability isn’t just inconvenient. It’s a public safety risk.
And touch deserves better than vague words and guesswork.

This beta proved one thing beyond question:

If we want safer care, we need measured touch.

30/04/2022

The evolution of Standard Touch®.

From bread boards and Arduino wires to a research-grade, production-ready device.

Every version brought us closer to our goal:
To make manual force measurable, trainable, and consistent across providers.

This wasn’t built in a lab. It was built in real treatment rooms, in conference halls, during lockdowns, and inside countless “what if” moments.

We didn’t pivot away from pressure.

We ran toward it. until we could measure it, with meaning.

30/04/2022

2020: Work from home looked a little different here.

While the world paused, I kept building.

On this shelf: years of prototypes, pressure pads, and performance platforms.

Each one represents a version of Standard Touch® that brought us closer to clarity, to the moment where touch stopped being subjective, and started being measurable.

This wasn’t a pause. It was a quiet acceleration.

Because care doesn’t stop when the world does.

30/04/2022

I stepped onto a stage at the New Mexico Occupational Therapy Association (NMOTA) Conference to present something no one had ever measured before:

the variability of human-applied pressure in manual care.

This wasn’t a product demo. It wasn’t a pitch.

It was the first time Standard Touch® left the treatment room and entered the clinical conversation.

What began as a tool to measure massage pressure quickly revealed something much bigger. There were no shared standards.

No definitions for what terms like deep, firm, or light actually meant. And no safeguards for patients or practitioners when pressure was applied inconsistently—or even dangerously.

Presenting our beta results at NMOTA changed everything.

It showed me that to truly close the gap between intention and outcome, I had to build the entire system:
→ The assessments
→ The training
→ The language
→ The standards

Because touch should never be guesswork.

And what we apply with our hands should be measured with the same care as what we prescribe with our words.

30/04/2022

Mendology was selected by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), through the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), to join their Applicant Assistance Program (AAP).

This selective, NIH-funded cohort supports a small group of first-time SBIR/STTR applicants working on breakthrough health technologies.

Our selection aligned with NCCIH’s Notice of Special Interest: Development and validation of devices to monitor or enhance mind-body interventions.

It was a pivotal moment.

NIH recognized what we’ve believed all along, that touch, when measured, advances evidence-based care.

This milestone affirmed the scientific merit of our work, and brought us one step closer to advancing biosensor-based feedback, force standards, and outcome-driven innovation in wellness, rehabilitation, and healthcare.

30/04/2022

We were honored to be invited to the Elements Massage® Corporate Conference as part of their Innovation Lab, a space where bold ideas meet the future of massage therapy.

Standard Touch® brought something totally new to the table: Real measurement. Real feedback. Real potential.

Franchise owners lit up when they saw the device in action, excited by the idea of putting data behind their Level 1–4 pressure scale and creating consistency across the Elements Way.

This was a major turning point. Not just because of the opportunity, but because we saw with clear eyes that the industry was ready for measurable touch.

Send a message to learn more

30/04/2022

Thank you to Allen Share and the Spa Industry Association for inviting Standard Touch® to join the conversation at IECSC Las Vegas.

This was our first time showcasing the concept publicly—right on the showroom floor beside leading voices in spa and wellness.

We shared the idea that massage and skincare pressure can be measurable. That words like light, firm, and deep didn’t have to be vague anymore.

The response? Instant curiosity. Real engagement. And the start of something bigger.

We’re grateful to the SIA for making space for innovation—and for those early conversations that helped shape what came next.

Send a message to learn more

29/04/2022

I was honored by the “Massage Makes Me Happy & Healthy” campaign for my work in the field of massage therapy.

But the truth is, I’ve always been the one honored.

Honored to witness the power of touch.

Honored to watch people come alive again, sometimes for the first time in a long time, through connection, presence, and safe pressure.

It’s these moments that lit the fire behind Standard Touch® and Mendology™.

Because what heals us should never be guesswork.

And the gift of touch deserves to be measured, understood, and protected.

I’ve been honored in my massage career to see the power of massage change lives.
~ Sarah Komala
Mendology, Inc.

09/01/2018

2024 Update: This was one of our earliest concept models of Standard Touch®.

Since then, we’ve expanded this into a full closed-loop performance platform—measuring, training, and adapting human-applied force across wellness, healthcare, and beyond.

From concept to category creator — thank you to everyone who believed early.