Game Devices Help Surgeons Do Their Jobs Better
- 11 years ago
Game devices help surgeons do their jobs better.
Can you imagine your surgeon using video games for training?
Surgical students at the University of Rome Medical School were given an assignment to play Nintendo Wii games for an hour a day, five days a week over four weeks.
They performed better at laparoscopic surgery than another group of students who weren’t given the video game assignment.
Laparoscopic surgery uses a small video camera inserted into the patient’s body to help the surgeon see inside and perform invasive surgery without having to make a large incision to access the inside of the patient’s body.
Developing hand eye coordination and being comfortable maneuvering in a three dimensional space are some skills that can be honed by playing video games.
Doctor Brant Oelschlager, chief of the University of Washington's Center for Videoendoscopic Surgery said: "I'm skeptical that at an advanced level that would help the surgeon become better. At some point, it starts to have diminishing returns and you have to gain the rest of your skills in a real patient."
Professors from the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota are also exploring the world of video game training for health care professionals.
Serious learning based video games reportedly have a 75 percent retention rate, which is 60 percent higher than an average lecture.
Can you imagine your surgeon using video games for training?
Surgical students at the University of Rome Medical School were given an assignment to play Nintendo Wii games for an hour a day, five days a week over four weeks.
They performed better at laparoscopic surgery than another group of students who weren’t given the video game assignment.
Laparoscopic surgery uses a small video camera inserted into the patient’s body to help the surgeon see inside and perform invasive surgery without having to make a large incision to access the inside of the patient’s body.
Developing hand eye coordination and being comfortable maneuvering in a three dimensional space are some skills that can be honed by playing video games.
Doctor Brant Oelschlager, chief of the University of Washington's Center for Videoendoscopic Surgery said: "I'm skeptical that at an advanced level that would help the surgeon become better. At some point, it starts to have diminishing returns and you have to gain the rest of your skills in a real patient."
Professors from the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota are also exploring the world of video game training for health care professionals.
Serious learning based video games reportedly have a 75 percent retention rate, which is 60 percent higher than an average lecture.