A team from The University of Melbourne have created an innovative new piece of technology which will help educate Physiotherapists & Physiotherapy students refine their spinal palpation and spinal manipulation techniques.
The new piece of tech is called spinal log and looks just like a human spine on a bed of conductive foam sensors which is linked to software providing visual feedback to the students live.
Clearly the addition of this tech to traditional teaching methods of palpation and manipulation will transform the ability for the teacher to provide feedback on the subtle movements to the student – something which is typically challenging. To take things one step further spinallog uses a 3D model and can record what the educator is doing so the student can replicate the action without the teacher being present. Just as it can be used without a teacher present there will also be less of a burden on volunteers or models to practice on making teaching time more efficient and equitable.
Currently the tech is only being used at The University of Melbourne School of Physiotherapy and will be undergoing research trials to assess its effectiveness as a teaching aid. You can read more about the tech on The Univerity of Melbourne Website.