Scalpel, Forceps, Wii-mote? Video Games for Surgeons
When it comes to sticking tiny knives, telescopic lenses, and fiber optic video cameras into our guts, practice makes perfect, right?
Right and then some.
According to research conducted at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, playing games for about an hour prior to entering the operating room hiked surgical proficiency by nearly 50 percent. In the test, eight doctors-in-training were tasked with performing "virtual" surgeries on a 2D screen using the Nintendo Wii's remote to make precise hand movements.
Laparoscopy, aka "minimally invasive surgery," has in fact been around since the early 1900s, but didn't come into its own until relatively recently with the introduction of tiny computer-driven TV cameras. It involves making a small cut in the patient's skin and inserting a rod-shaped telescope with a camera attached into the abdomen. It's primary benefits are allowing surgeons to examine and/or operate on problem areas or organs while minimizing patient trauma and increasing recovery time.
Sounds wonderful, but practice is absolutely crucial. According to one doctor, the skills necessary to perform laparoscopic surgery are "like tying your shoelaces with three-foot-long chopsticks."
Cost of professional laparoscopic training technology? Hundreds of thousands.
Cost of a Wii? $250. (Well, if you can find one without resorting to eBay, anyway.)
Getting to play video games before scrubbing up? Priceless.
The biggest drawback to date: Lack of haptic feedback. Haptic, from the Greek word for "touch," is a way of describing technology that simulates "contact" with a virtual surface by employing highly sophisticated force feedback. Which sounds like a perfect opportunity for haptic games pioneer Novint to bring its Falcon peripheral to a Wii (or an OR) near you.
Don't give Nintendo all the credit, of course. Stories about video games boosting sawbones skills easily predate the Wii. In 2004, research indicated that doctors who spent at least three hours a week playing video games made about 37 percent fewer mistakes in laparoscopic surgery and performed the task 27 percent faster than their counterparts who didn't play video games.