Turning Rehabilitation Ideas Into Practical Tools
Matheson Development was founded in 2007 by Erin and Jon Matheson, continuing a family tradition of innovation in occupational rehabilitation that began decades earlier with Dr. Leonard Matheson and his colleagues.
From the beginning, Matheson Development was created to do more than manufacture equipment. Erin and Jon wanted to help develop practical tools that could translate rehabilitation concepts and clinical research into products that professionals could actually use.
That work began with product development, prototyping, and research and has grown into the company we are today.
From Prototypes to Proven Products
In the early years, Erin and Jon worked closely with rehabilitation professionals to prototype and refine new equipment and assessment tools.
Matheson Development also participated in normative data studies supporting functional assessment protocols that have since become well-established and respected in the field.
This early combination of product development and research helped shape the way we approach equipment today.
We don't believe good rehabilitation equipment starts with a manufacturing process.
It starts with a clinical need.
Becoming Matheson Development, LLC
In 2010, Matheson Development became a limited liability company (LLC) as the business continued to expand its role in rehabilitation product development and manufacturing.
As the company grew, our work expanded beyond prototyping.
We began manufacturing, assembling, packaging, and supporting equipment used with established rehabilitation protocols and assessment methods.
We also became a distributor of highly regarded assessment tools and rehabilitation products from other manufacturers, allowing clinicians to find a broader range of useful equipment and assessments through a company that understands how those products are used in practice.
Building on the Matheson Tradition
Our work is connected to a much longer history.
Dr. Leonard Matheson and his colleagues helped advance occupational rehabilitation, work hardening, work capacity evaluation, functional capacity evaluation, and functional assessment beginning in the 1970s.
Roy Matheson helped bring many of these ideas to rehabilitation professionals through education, training, and professional development.
Matheson Development became the next generation of that work—not by simply preserving the products of the past, but by continuing to develop, manufacture, and support practical tools for clinicians.
What We Do Today
Today, Matheson Development develops, manufactures, distributes, and supports equipment and assessment products used by rehabilitation professionals.
Our products support areas including:
- Functional Capacity Evaluation
- Lift Capacity Evaluation
- Work Hardening and Work Conditioning
- Dexterity and Range-of-Motion Assessment
- Cognitive and Functional Assessment
- Ergonomic Assessment
- Job-Related Functional Testing
- Return-to-Work Rehabilitation
Some products are designed and manufactured by Matheson Development.
Others are products we carefully select and distribute because they provide value to the clinicians we serve.
In both cases, we look at the same fundamental question:
Does this product provide a useful tool for the professional using it?
We Understand the Clinical Environment
Our experience has taught us that rehabilitation equipment has to work in the real world.
A clinician may have limited space, limited time, and a wide range of patients with different abilities and needs.
Equipment needs to be practical to set up, use, adjust, maintain, and understand.
That is why we pay attention to the details.
We think about how a product is used in a clinic—not simply how it looks on a specification sheet.
We also understand that purchasing equipment is only the beginning of the relationship.
Good product support matters.
Five Principles Guide Our Work
Every product we manufacture, develop, or select is considered through five principles:
Safety
Equipment should be appropriate for the people using it and the environments in which it is used.
Reliability
Clinicians depend on their equipment. It should perform consistently and withstand the demands of clinical use.
Validity
When equipment is used to measure or evaluate function, the assessment should have a meaningful relationship to what the clinician is trying to understand.
Practicality
A good idea is only useful if it can be used effectively in a real clinical environment.
Utility
Ultimately, equipment should help a professional answer a question, make an observation, guide a decision, or support a patient's progress.
Corvallis, Oregon
In 2020, Matheson Development moved to Corvallis, Oregon, where we continue our work today.
From Corvallis, we develop, manufacture, distribute, and support rehabilitation equipment for professionals throughout the United States and internationally.
Looking Forward
The rehabilitation field continues to change.
Physical capacity remains an important part of functional assessment, but clinicians are increasingly addressing cognitive function, neurological recovery, complex work demands, and the interaction between physical and cognitive abilities.
Matheson Development is committed to evolving with the field.
That means continuing to listen to clinicians, improve existing products, develop new tools, and explore better ways to translate research and clinical ideas into practical equipment.
Our history gives us a foundation.
Our relationships with clinicians help us understand the present.
And product development keeps us focused on what comes next.
We are proud of where Matheson Development came from—and we are even more interested in what we can build next.