Wii Good For Surgeons

If that kid of yours is good with the fine control of video games like Wii’s Marble Mania, be glad. He might make a fine surgeon some day.

 

A new study has demonstrated that the delicate movements involved in a game like that hone the kind of scalpel skills that surgeons need. The study, from the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, indicates that trainee surgeons who spent an hour playing on a video game console then showed 50% better scalpel control when conducting a virtual reality operation. That has led, according to New Scientist, to the team designing new software to mimic surgical procedures.

 

In a BBC report, Kanav Kohel, one of the researchers, said,

 

"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, where players navigate a marble around a 3D maze, proved ideal, and there has been speculation that the Wii could help train surgeons in developing countries. Researchers are due to present the study at a conference later this month.