Study: Surgeons warm up with Wii

  • By Polybren, GameSpot
  • Posted Jan 18, 2008 2:36 pm PT

Gaming research is a growing field, and though the conclusions reached have run the gamut from promisingly positive to damningly negative, it seems there are always more studies from both ends of the spectrum just around the corner. This week's entry in the former category comes from New...

Gaming research is a growing field, and though the conclusions reached have run the gamut from promisingly positive to damningly negative, it seems there are always more studies from both ends of the spectrum just around the corner.

This week's entry in the former category comes from New Scientist, which is reporting on a new study that suggests playing Wii games helped doctors score higher on certain aspects of a surgical training simulation.

Kanav Kahol and Marshall Smith of the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, took eight doctors in training and had them play games for an hour before performing a virtual surgery. Those who played on the system tested 48 percent higher on tool control and performance in the simulation. Those who played games that require precise movements, such as Kororinpa: Marble Mania--in which a player tilts the Wii Remote to move a ball around in-game levels--saw more improvement than those that let players succeed with broad gestures like swinging a tennis racket.

"The whole point about surgery is to execute small, finely controlled movements with your hands, and that is exactly what you get playing Wii," Kahol told the magazine. (The article did not mention Atlus' Trauma Center: Second Opinion, which more directly mimics surgery.)

The researchers had their subjects wear gloves equipped with motion sensors during the playtime and surgery simulation, and found that the movements required of the two acts matched up well. Their findings will be presented later this month at a California conference dubbed "Medicine Meets Virtual Reality."

120 Comments

  • _MEDUSA_

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 9:52 pm PT

    See...see...playing games are good for you! development of hand eye co-ordination! and then ppl still blame games for murders! but it saves countless lives! GO GAMES GO! GO WII!! Brilliant!

  • KingKombat13

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 1:39 pm PT

    Well, if it makes the doctors perform better, who gives a crap.
    Go Wii!

  • _Cab0ose87_

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 9:59 am PT

    i totally agree DarkStreetDev.

  • robinson_chase

    Posted Jan 21, 2008 9:46 pm PT

    wii sucks!!! ps3 forever!!! just kidding, nobody get pissed lol

  • DarkStreetDev

    Posted Jan 21, 2008 9:17 pm PT

    At no point in the article did it say the Wii will be used as a teaching tool to train doctors. Nowhere does it say it will teach you the correct procedures. Instead of just seeing "Wii" and "medical profession" perhaps it's a good idea to actually READ the article in its entirety? It trains their hands, movements and steadiness so they can perform more accurately when performing surgery. If that means my doctor will perform better when operating on me, then I say go for it, play Wii the whole damn night!

  • JackfnBurton

    Posted Jan 21, 2008 8:19 pm PT

    I think that [THOUGHTS DELETED BY INTELLI-TRON 2000], you know what I mean? And when they finally [THOUGHTS DELETED BY INTELLI-TRON 2000] then we will all be able to [THOUGHTS DELETED BY INTELLI-TRON 2000].

    Yes, that's what I think. Anyone agree?

  • link631

    Posted Jan 21, 2008 5:18 pm PT

    thats cool

  • Patous

    Posted Jan 21, 2008 5:08 pm PT

    It's just like the kid who saved some guy's life because he knew what to do thanks to America's Army.

  • visionedorange

    Posted Jan 21, 2008 12:54 pm PT

    thats pretty awesome

  • GunnBjorn

    Posted Jan 21, 2008 11:02 am PT

    I'm really interested in what Dr. Ray Muzyka(CEO, Bioware) thinks about this development...

  • wiifan001

    Posted Jan 21, 2008 10:45 am PT

    Wow the Wii is so awesome that it even helps doctors with their medical work. that's a big + for Nintendo

  • cfamgcn

    Posted Jan 21, 2008 10:35 am PT

    Wow... I didn't think we would live to see this kind of news xD

  • _Cab0ose87_

    Posted Jan 21, 2008 10:07 am PT

    Man you people are backwards... Ok so... when Jack thompson says games brainwash kids into thinking that they can kill people for fun like in GTA that's "evil and stupid!" But when surgeons play Wii and IMPROVE their performance in a REAL training simulator then they will suddenly think that REAL surgery is a game? LOL wow WTF is wrong with you people. they do the exact same thing with pilots in the airforce.. it's better to practice in a simulator than with a real plane or real person when your not ready.

  • edhc44

    Posted Jan 21, 2008 5:24 am PT

    People are overreacting on this one. It just said it helped surgeons to warm up, and some people are all fired up saying that a videogame can't teach the correct procedures... OF COURSE it can't, that's why CERTIFIED SURGEONS are trying it, they supposedly know what to do, it isn't saying an average joe can perform surgery after playing Kororimpa, for Christ's sake!

    Instead of focusing on bashing the Wii or Nintendo, people should realise that it means the overall society is starting to take gaming more seriously and be happy about it. And you call yourselves gamers?

  • EternalDove

    Posted Jan 21, 2008 3:38 am PT

    That's really cool.

    Go Wii!

  • darfvader

    Posted Jan 21, 2008 2:29 am PT

    well i guess precise hand to eye movements help excute the same movments. thing is i wonder how much relaxation a surgeon needs like in the sense of lie down relax, its a really tense job i guess.

  • GunnBjorn

    Posted Jan 21, 2008 12:30 am PT

    Let's await the findings/results that will be presented at the conference, alright...?

  • Thatsmypunk

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 11:48 pm PT

    Nurse, had me the wiimote.

  • im-a-roustabout

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 9:35 pm PT

    Look guys, it's not taking the place of anything, it's just a tool that helps doctors steady there hands more. THink about it. Surgery is always risky and if playing something as unlikely as a wii game steadies the hands. makes you up to 46% faster and more effiecent with LESS mistakes.......well I think the results speak for themselves. The wii mote is giving doctors better manual dexterity to perform more ardiduous tasks. The End. Halo will not become a fight simulator and NO the doctors will not use this to take the place of virtual training, they used the wii ON TOP of the virtual training. sheesh.

  • OfficialBed

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 7:03 pm PT

    that's about the only thing the wii is good for

  • interpolred

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 6:14 pm PT

    Crazy. The magic of hand-eye coordination! That's good, though. Video games are proving to be more than just a pastime.

  • iamsammy71

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 5:28 pm PT

    That makes sence. They should make that a requirement for all surgeons. It wouldn't hurt. :]

  • gamfaqs2gamfaqs

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 5:24 pm PT

    Doctor Requirement: Must play Wii for atleast 3 years

  • lrsp

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 4:13 pm PT

    And people say all games are bad.

  • xgalacticax

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 3:53 pm PT

    Next Headline: 'Pornstars heat up with Wii!!'

  • DrKill09

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 2:28 pm PT

    That's pretty neat. I'm freakin awful at the Wii, though. It's too damn precise. It feels awkward to me now like the N64's analog stick did in 96. Just need some practice...

  • alberto2045

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 2:10 pm PT

    dude what? come on man

  • Link_Destined_1

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 2:04 pm PT

    It's nice to hear of a study that ISN'T about violent video games and violent kids for once.

  • Cesb02

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 1:03 pm PT

    AT Zetona:

    Ur comparing two different things, its not like telling soldiers to practice on Halo because they are sitting on a chair holding a control thats not like war at all!!!!

    But for a surgeon its all about hand-eye coordination.

  • mightEone

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 11:33 am PT

    Great! just what we all need are Surgeons being trained by the Wii. Im tired of hearing all this crap about people using the Wii for exercise and training... Cmon, I own one and barely even play it.

  • link631

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 10:32 am PT

    OK.

  • Aralerm

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 10:24 am PT

    Interesting article. There are already video games used to treat eye orthotics problems for children for example to help them get a better co-ordination with right and left eye...maybe one day we will start seeing Wii in hospitals or GPs to treat some patient's ailments...who knows

  • KingChainz31684

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 8:14 am PT

    first of all i would like to note a game that gives you endless regenerating shields and guns with homing needles would be an extremely poor training game. now a method that they do use is training on the wii with MOHheroes 2 but prior to that i know counter strike has been used so has MOH AA back in the day. video games of certain types can increase your hand eye coordination several studies have shown that people of all types and desires to play video games who play a shooting game prior to shooting excerises were much better off that people who didn't play any games and people who played simple puzzle games such as tetris. Also shooters with realistic recoil were also preferred.

  • unndead16

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 7:47 am PT

    well here's a new market for the fast growing Nintendo! in my opinion the Wii will soon become the future, but as a Xbox and PS3 fan i must say that things are just warming up, who knows what will find on the market when our children will grow up. Virtual Clones going to school probably?

  • GunnBjorn

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 7:17 am PT

    You're right Rayze78, i should 've read the article a bit more thoroughly...
    I'll remove my first comment and retreat in shame...

  • VirtualTofu

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 7:16 am PT

    I'm not a doctor, but I play as one on a Wii.

  • Rayze78

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 6:59 am PT

    Its not being used as training or practice FOR FFS! Read the article!

  • Endogene

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 6:31 am PT

    I remember some same research some time ago with reaction speed being improved by playing games here on gamespot, now that with the wii you also have to use youre wrist instead of only pushing buttons i quess you'll be able to move it more precicely and quicker.
    Anyway it sure is more fun tu play a litte wii instead of having to warm up your hands the "old fashioned way" before you have to do something with them for an extended period of time

  • NGcrazy

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 6:06 am PT

    its the same as when i played the wii and i was way better at sports

  • Azwhtknight

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 5:10 am PT

    I heard a report once that certain movements (like juggling) can actually improve your brain function and it also stimulates areas of the brain that are still a mystery to us. I guess it only stands to reason that performing these same kind of actions in a game would be beneficial. I guess med students can put -excessive game play- down on their college applications now.

    Arizona all the way!

  • 02sfraser

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 3:54 am PT

    right i love the wii and i am a huge nintendo fan but i think this is a bit to far. i really doubt that it improves surgeons ability that much if at all.

  • hongkingkong

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 3:04 am PT

    When surgeons start getting RSI and wii related injuries before an operation, we will know democracy has gone too far.

  • Phoenix2Raven

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 2:59 am PT

    really funny how most people obvious didn't bother reading the article. exactly why would it be bad if ur surgeon happened to play a videogame b4 operation, surgeons do a lot of odd stuff b4 surgeory cause guess what it relaxes them. n they r not training docs on surgical procedures on the wii they r testing their skill along the lines of precision after warming up with games on the wii, duh, with the amount of surgeory consisting of machine aid these days using a wiimote will definetly get u more steady hands n get u in the zone of looking at monitors while moving ur hands oh thats what u do with the wii, surprise surprise. talk about gamer self hate, u guys sound ridicules making fun of this study when those people conducted a valid intellectual study n they most likely spent a great deal of time n energy on it so i think they know whats right in regards to this. this is good news 4 games as a whole yet u r making fun just like jack thompson would do, shameful.

  • monkeyd_93

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 1:16 am PT

    nice idea, as a real basic sort of thing, to get used to hand-eye coordination, but i hope it doesnt get to the point where the surgeons make a fatal mistake, and they say "wait a minute wheres my other lives"
    they should make a airforce one as well lol

  • Canuck3000

    Posted Jan 20, 2008 12:21 am PT

    Wouldn't it suck to bowl a bad game before open heart?

  • hamchan1

    Posted Jan 19, 2008 11:43 pm PT

    "Oh great, I can see it now. Pretty soon Wii Doctor will come out, the game where you perform surgery with your Wiiscalpel. "

    Its called Trauma Center lol

  • ShockerX01

    Posted Jan 19, 2008 11:30 pm PT

    Didn't gamespot posted a similar article like this awhile ago? Anyway ... I do see it as beneficial. The hands can get shakey and harder to do something precise. Its a good thing to have SOME SORT of warm up.

    I mean, I played the wii version of trauma center (I loved the ds game), I was astonished how shakey my hands were, but after awhile, my "aim" gotten better. Its not significant, but it helps.

    However, if one must (say a director) suggest "training" from wii before surgery, must bear in mind that its a warm up for precision. Not a simulation, speed, or whatever. Don't want doctors thinking "operating is a game" now like completing task quicker.

advertisement

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!