AvDesk and rehabilitation of visually impaired in sports on “Tg2 Medicina 33”
In the first episode of Tg2 Medicine 33 of 2024, we talk about AvDesk and the rehabilitation of the visually impaired and the empowerment of athletes.
Presented and curated by Laura Berti, Tg2 Medicina 33 is a program that delves deep into and reports on the world and news in the medical field, with therapeutic advice, technological innovations, and expert commentary.
“Perhaps not everyone knows that rehabilitative exercises for the visually impaired, which are particularly effective, can also be applied to improve the sports performance of the visually impaired“ says Federico Bartolomei.
Federico coordinates the low vision activities of the Istituto dei Ciechi Francesco Cavazza in Bologna and is an orthoptist, a health profession that works in the field of ophthalmology and deals with the evaluation and rehabilitation of visual disorders, such as strabismus, amblyopia and hemianopia.
“There are techniques that are based on perceptual learning” – Bartolomei continues – “that is, our brain’s ability to improve our abilities that are based on exercises that, if repeated and studied according to the person’s residual vision, can help enhance it. Many of the techniques can also be proposed to those with normal vision to maximally improve their sports activity at the time of play.”
Prof. Antonio Ciardella, director of the Ophthalmology Clinic at Policlinico San Orsola Malpighi (BO), also reminds us of the risks in sporting activity: “with a lack of good binocular or stereoscopic vision, it is easier to go into an injury; for example, a skier may miscalculate the distance to the poles”.
In this context, AvDesk‘s specific exercises enable athletes to improve aspects of their activities, in particular:
- reduce response times
- improve responsiveness to external stimuli
- develop decision making
- improve peripheral vision
- increase concentration skills
- reduce the risk of injury
This has already resulted in major empowerment projects on sports players; the data that have emerged show us that AvDesk is also a valuable tool for cognitive training, capable of improving the performance of even normal-sighted subjects.