Surgeons and Gaming

(1 vote)

The following is from an recent ABC News story about a recent study that indicates that playing games on the Wii can have positive effect on a doctor's performance during surgery.

abc_wii_dr ABC News By MICHAEL REILLY Jan. 22, 2008 ~ You might think it a bad idea for trainee surgeons to play games on the Nintendo Wii when they should be studying, but it might be time well spent.

Kanav Kahol and Marshall Smith of the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, have found that surgical residents performed better during simulated surgery after playing on the Wii console. They put it down to the console's novel "Wiimote" control system, which allows players to direct on-screen action using a wireless wand that detects acceleration in three dimensions.

Now they are designing Wii software that will accurately simulate surgical procedures. A training platform based on the console, which costs about $250, might be more practical for trainee surgeons in the developing world than traditional virtual training tools, which typically cost a great deal more. Read the rest of this article...