Swimming Like a Dolphin
Updated: Oct 14, 2022
Happy Friday everyone! As you know, I am a huge fan of using swimming to help with stroke recovery. It seems those who agree with me are growing.
Imagine, if you could accelerate your stroke recovery by swimming like a dolphin? Well, the good people at Johns Hopkins and Kata have collaborated to do just that. And you don't even need to get wet!
They have created a 3D simulator that allows recovering stroke patients to swim like a dolphin. As they note on their website, this is fun with a serious purpose. "We promote full 3D, complex, motor movement input used to learn novel tasks: swimming like a dolphin. . . .[t]his full spectrum is rarely addressed in traditional physical and occupational therapy and exercise".
I think the best part about this rehabilitation is that is like playing a video game. The patient is connected to sensors that show their movements as a dolphin on a video screen. That engagement makes the recovery less mentally taxing, and probably keeps the patient more engaged.
Source: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery/research/labs/kata_studio/technologies.html