About Bilathera · Our story
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Trigger PRO is not just another tool. Our bilateral leverage manual therapy tool is the result of a series of exceptional events that began many years ago, with one accident.
An accident that never really ended
As a boy, Thomas Gagliano was in a motorcycle accident that left him with a permanent drop foot. He walks with a limp, something that would later have long-term consequences.
It didn't hold him back. Thomas became an endurance athlete and went on to finish seven Ironman triathlons.
From the finish line to stuck in bed
All that training, on a stride that tilts the pelvis, put an uneven load on his lower back. A spasm there started small and snowballed. Thomas went from seven Ironman finishes to not being able to get out of bed.
Same problem on every treatment table
For years Thomas went from practitioner to practitioner: physiotherapists, osteopaths, massage therapists, chiropractors. What he needed was steady work on a deep spot in his lower back, close to the spine, and he began to notice the same pattern every time.
They put him in contorted positions, usually on his side. They leaned their body weight in and balanced on top of him to get the depth. He slipped, they slipped, and he never got to lie still long enough to relax.
These were skilled people. What they kept fighting was physics.
After years of sessions that ended the same way, Thomas began to think there had to be an easier way.
One hand short: the spark for Trigger PRO
The idea came during a session with an Ashiatsu therapist. Ashiatsu practitioners lean their whole body weight into the work, holding on to bars overhead to stay balanced. She was pushing sideways to reach that deep spot in his lower back, and Thomas thought: this would be so much easier if something were holding the other side of the spine at the same time.
One side pushing needed another side pushing back.
Giving the idea a shape: bilateral leverage
Thomas took the thought to his friend and business partner, Fabio Huqi. Talking it through, it took shape: a tool that lets anyone give a perfectly balanced, two-sided massage of the lower back, with each hand bracing against the other.
On the table, Thomas felt another advantage of the bilateral design: it braces both sides of the spine, supporting one side while working the other, so the pressure stays stable and he could fully relax.
They both saw that the problem was bigger than one back. Every practitioner Thomas had met was fighting the same physics, every day.
35 Trigger PRO prototypes in 30 days
They started by hand, with tools cut from wood, then moved to 3D printing. The routine was simple and relentless: design during the day, print overnight, test on Thomas in the morning.
In 30 days they made more than 35 prototypes, trying different leverage geometries and shapes, until one of them became the first Trigger PRO prototype. Thomas tried every single one.
From the rugby pitch to Dubai
The first prototypes left the house for our local professional rugby club, where they went to work on some of the strongest, densest bodies in sport.
Then came our first trade show. At the World Physiotherapy Congress in Dubai in June 2023, Bilathera was selected as one of only four innovative start-ups at the event. Physiotherapists from around the world tried it on each other at our stand. Once they saw it and felt it, nobody needed it explained: two hands linked together, working with leverage instead of strength.
Bilathera is born, made in France
The response was enthusiastic, and the purchase requests kept coming. Thomas and Fabio decided to go all in on bilateral therapy, and Bilathera (bilateral therapy) became a full-time company. That October we set up our own manufacturing in France, where every Trigger PRO is still made and assembled. In May 2024, Trigger PRO launched.
Who we are
The founders of Bilathera
Thomas Gagliano
Founder & CEO · Co-inventor
Thomas had the idea, and he was the first person every prototype was tried on. He is a serial entrepreneur who has founded and led international technology companies, and he holds more than 15 technology patents.
- Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, UCLA
- Physics, Stanford University
- Ironman triathlete
Fabio Huqi
Co-Founder & Managing Director · Co-inventor
Fabio turned the idea into a product you can build, ship and teach. He specialises in product development and sales. He has worked in automotive marketing and has managed manufacturing in fashion, food and consumer goods.
- Science and psychology, University of Padova
- Product development, manufacturing, sales
Our plan
Better to give.
Better to receive.
Manual therapy still runs mostly on two hands. We want it to feel better on both sides of the table, and we started where leverage adds the most.
- Step 1 · NowThe go-to tool for the hardest manual work
Make Trigger PRO and the BLSTM method the first choice for the most challenging techniques and body areas: points that are hard to reach, positions that are hard to hold.
- Step 2 · NowLess strain on practitioners' hands
Better manual therapy, with steady pressure from the tool instead of the thumbs, session after session and across a whole career.
- Step 3 · NextFrom the clinic to the home
Bring what works for professionals into the home, so people can loosen up tight spots on their own or with a partner.
- Step 4 · LaterPowered by a bilateral design
Electrify the line-up with new technologies that only a two-handed, bilateral design makes possible.
Use physics, not physique.
What's next
Join us on the journey
Whether you work with your hands every day, teach others how, or want to build the next chapter with us, there's a place for you here.
