Dynavision for Stroke Recovery
images: DYNAVISION INTERNATIONAL The Dynavision D2 helps stroke patients and other traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors at the Florida Hospital Peninsula Rehabilitation to improve their hand-eye coordination.
The Dynavision D2 is a proven medical evaluation and training device designed for use in rehabilitation facilities. It was originally created to assist athletes with their visual-motor skills training, and later adapted to offer the same benefits to those recovering from injuries or illnesses that resulted in visual or motor impairment. Dynavision's device is widely used in rehabilitation with stroke patients, people recovering from brain tumors and TBIs, or from injuries to the upper extremities. More than 800 devices are currently used in rehabilitation facilities and hospitals across the U.S.
One of the major advantages that Dynavision has over other physiotherapy devices is that it allows therapists to create customizable programs and to tailor each program to the individual patient's needs. Other than improving patients' hand-eye coordination, the device can be used to improve visual attention and anticipation, peripheral awareness, and visual-motor reaction time. At the same time, the D2 provides physicians and therapists with the data necessary for the evaluation of a patient's gross motor skills, the ability to perform neuro-cognitive tasks, and to respond to visual stimuli.
Patients recovering from upper extremity injuries can use the Dynavision D2 to increase their active range of motion and coordination and to improve motor planning. The device is also known to improve cognitive reaction skills, physical endurance, and motor planning, and it has been succesfully used with patients recovering from concussions and head injuries, injuries to the spinal cord, orthopedic injuries, amputation, and stroke.
The Dynavision D2 consists of a light board with 64 light switches that are arranged in five rings. The user reacts to the lights by pressing them and keeps the eyes focused on the tachistoscope (T-Scope) located at the centre of the board. The tachistoscope is a small rectangular screen that can be preprogrammed to flash images, words, or numbers for a specific amount of time. Patients must focus on it and rely on their peripheral vision to detect the flashing lights on the board. When used in physical therapy, the T-Scope helps improve patients' peripheral vision, reaction time, and visual-motor coordination.
The D2 incorporates strenuous physical movements with increasing levels of difficulty and cognitive challenge, and it provides medical teams with tools for tracking improvement. These days, it is a standard training device used in neuro rehabilitation. It can be mounted on a wall or on a portable stand, has adjustable height, and is resistant to impact. Lights can flash red or green, and the percentage of each colour is adjustable, as is light speed.
Jayme Edwards, occupational therapist at the Florida Hospital Peninsula Rehabilitation, tells FHTV News, "Dynavision was originally developed to be used with professional sports teams, to work on their gross motor coordination, their hand-eye coordination, and their reaction speed, and it was found to be very useful in the sports realm, but they also figured that it might be good to be used in the medical world of therapy as well."
Robert Choy, a stroke patient at the hospital, says, "I did come in on a stretcher. I was only able to stand, walk, because of the attention that was given to me by all the staff members. I was able to rehab myself, so I can stand here now, I could speak to you." After training with the Dynavision instrument, he noted the progress. "[It] helped me with my coordination and my reflexes, so I was able to drive by myself [so] that I don't have to depend on other people to take me around."
Watch the video to see how the Dynavision D2 is used in rehabilitation.
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