Wii to the rescue! Did your surgeon do his Wii warm up exercises today?
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I am in love with the Wii. It has revolutionalized game playing in my eyes. Sure the graphics are better and more realistic on the ps3, I’ve heard this a million times; but you’re still sitting there on your arse using a little joystick and a few buttons to control “your realistic” character on the screen. How far from realistic can you get! The Nintendo Wii at least is taking a step in the right direction.
I’m getting distracted. The main purpose of this post was not to talk about how much better the Wii is over its competition, but to talk about how it’s being used as a medical aid. I recently read two very interesting stories about its uses. This article in the BBC health section [link] talks about how the Wii is being used by as a therapy tool with burn victims and those with hand injuries to boost their recovery.
Specialists say using the Wii brings back flexibility to damaged areas and that most importantly – patients actually enjoy their treatment.
“When recovering from an operation, such as a skin graft, patients may need recover normal use of their hands and arms,” said Maureen Adams, head of therapy at Queen Victoria NHS Foundation Trust in East Grinstead.
“Using the Wii is a way of significantly improving movement, while not seeing the activity as therapy, which helps motivate them. Wii can also be done at home, so patients are able to continue their own personal therapies.”
Another interesting article [link] talks about the increased control surgeons experience after warming up on the Wii system for an hour before surgery.
The fine hand control required to play these games acts as a warm up and hones scalpel skills the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Centre team claim.
“The whole point about surgery is to execute small finely controlled movements with your hands, and that is exactly what you get with the Wii.”
Marble Mania, in which a ball is guided through a 3D obstacle course – was particularly effective in the study.
The article reported:
Game players scored nearly 50% higher on tool control and overall performance than other trainees.
Now who said playing games was for kids?
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Finally a valid excuse to get away from mom