Arriving in the same week a U.S. researcher and a number of American families have been revealed to be putting the health benefits of Wii Fit to the test, Nintendo’s hot-selling interactive exercise regime has been embraced for rehabilitation purposes by a UK hospital.
Wii Fit used to help patients adjust to prosthetic limbs. Image: daveynin/Flickr.
Specifically, patients struggling to cope with new prosthetic limbs at Seacroft Hospital in Leeds, England, are now using Wii Fit and its accompanying Wii Balance Board to aid their ongoing acclimatisation and physical therapy.
According to Nintendo World Report, physiotherapists at the hospital are amongst the first in the country to apply sessions of Wii Fit into the schedule of patients learning to adjust to the demands of a lower prosthetic.
Lynn Hirst, a senior physiotherapist at the hospital, commented that many patients find it hard “getting their weight through the prosthetic limb,” and that the combination of Wii Fit and the Balance Board allows them to better gauge where their weight is being applied.
In terms of its value as a rehabilitation tool, Hirst said that Wii Fit’s included mini games, such as skiing, help patients get to grips with important aspects of balance, stability, control and cooperation between a real limb and a prosthetic attachment.
She also added that interactive physiotherapy via Wii Fit alleviates the usual frustration and tedium felt by patients, while Nintendo’s hardware and software added a valuable element of fun to the sessions.
Hailing Wii Fit’s effects as “absolutely fantastic,” Hirst hopes that other medical institutions around the country note the possible benefits and similarly embrace Nintendo’s technology.
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WeedaurgedyJan 13th, 2009 - 01:12:31
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WeedaurgedyJan 13th, 2009 - 01:12:31
I think you are thinking like sukrat, but I think you should cover the other side of the topic in the post too...
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