medicine
Culture
Surgeons Using Wiis To Hone Their Skillz
10:40AM AJ Glasser | We’ve heard of Wiis in medicine before — but now instead of handing out Nintendo’s little white giant to burn victims and physical therapy patients, some doctors are using them as training tools. More »
Wii Injury Arrives in Time for Holidays
3:00AM Owen Good | Researchers at two different institutions in the UK have identified an injury, and an increase in its incidence, associated with playing the Wii. More »
Angels Donate Wiis To Soldiers
10:40AM Stuart Houghton | US nonprofit group Soldier’s Angels is donating Nintendo Wiis to severely wounded veterans. Donna Jo Blake, Chief of Physical Medicine Rehabilitation at Department of Veterans Affairs in Eastern Colorado thinks that this could lead to (and I do apologise for this) “Wii-hablitation”. “We are aware of many colleagues throughout the Veterans Affairs medical system who have developed dynamic Wii programs in multiple areas, including PolyTrauma, Spinal Cord Injury/Traumatic Brain Injury, and Long Term Care,” says Blake, “Wii gaming has great potential for physical, mental and emotional well-being. We are delighted to receive this support from Soldiers’ Angels.” Nonprofit Donates Wiis To Injured Soldiers [The Wiire]
Compulsive Gaming Is A Not An Addiction
2:20AM Mike Fahey | The head of Europe’s first treatment centre for gaming addicts has revealed that 90% of young people who seek counseling for compulsive gaming habits aren’t actually addicts at all. Keith Bakker of The Smith & Jones Centre in Amsterdam explains that while a gamers who show other addictive behaviours such as drinking or taking drugs have been successfully treated using traditional abstinence-based treatment models, the vast majority of compulsive gamers have a social problem, rather than a psychological one. “This gaming problem is a result of the society we live in today,” Mr Bakker told BBC News. “Eighty per cent of the young people we see have been bullied at school and feel isolated. Many of the symptoms they have can be solved by going back to good old fashioned communication.” More »
Wii-mote Makes Better Surgeons
12:40AM Brian Ashcraft | Before your doctor puts you under the knife, it might be good for him or her to put the Wii under it. A US study showed that surgeons in training who warmed up with Wii games like Marble Mania scored higher on virtual surgeries than those who didn’t. American doctors at the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Arizona are now creating software that will allow surgeons to practice using the Wii-mote. Says Dr. Kanav Kohel, one of the physicians involved with the project: The whole point about surgery is to execute small, finely controlled movements with your hands, and that is exactly what you get playing… But you don’t gain a lot from swinging an imaginary tennis racket. Tell us about it. Surgeons Are Better [Telegraph via Next Generation] [Pic] More »
Another Tale Of Wii Therapy Goodness
3:20AM Mike Fahey | The Wii continues to prove itself as a proficient tool for physical rehabilitation in a story out of St. Paul Minnesota involving a therapist at Gillette Children’s Specialty Heathcare named Anna Forsberg, who has introduced Nintendo’s console to her patients after receiving one as a wedding gift back in August. The freshly opened system was immediately put to use, aiding in the recovery of a 15 year-old girl who had recently awoken from a three-week long coma. Unlike traditional video games that use a joy stick or finger controls, the Wii requires users to replicated the action of the sport they are playing. “You can’t play tennis with your hand in your lap,” Forsberg tells her patient. “You have to move your whole arm.” Far too easy. With the patient’s parents already seeing a marked improvement in their child with only the one session under her belt, it’s yet another success story for Nintendo’s plucky little console. Anyone else getting the feeling that the Wii will still be used in hospitals around the world long after we’ve moved on to whatever Nintendo has up its sleeve next? And will the mainstream press ever get over ending their Wii articles like this? It’s hard work, made easier, with a Wii bit of fun. Oh Boyd Huppert, your wit tickles me so! *sigh* Wii makes for fun therapy at children’s hospital [KARE 11 TV] More »
Video Games Treat Pain Better Than Meds?
3:40AM Mark Wilson | Canada’s universal healthcare has one catch: patients can go for a long time before seeing specialists—apparently years. That’s why at least one Canadian researcher is studying drug-alternatives to pain management. And in a recent study, researcher Simon Fraser found that subjects playing fully-immersive games (they tested a 3D skiing title) reported less pain than the subjects taking drugs. While this is an interesting idea to pass the time, I wonder how the patients felt when they were done playing. And I wonder which meds were being tested…(is Mario better than morphine?) Video games beat drugs for chronic pain [via nextgen][image] More »
Pokemon For Sore Throats
10:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Even when you’ve got a sore throat, Pokémon is there for you. Yes, this is Pocket Monsters nodo ame (throat lozenges), which comes in two fruity flavors: Orange and grape. They even have Vitamin C in them. How about that? And if this wasn’t enough (it really isn’t), there’s Diamond & Pearl SPACE JUICE. Well, it’s not really space juice. Pokémon space juice would be absurd. Rather, it’s mixed fruit juice in an astronaut-style squeezy pouch that’s often used for energy jelly drinks in Japan. Here, have a look: More »
