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 PHOENIX (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The latest wave of video game technology is doing much more than keeping teenagers entertained it's preparing doctors for the operating room. Ivanhoe explains how the Nintendo Wii is working wonders for surgeons.
Jeff Henke, M.D., a surgical resident at Banner Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, is playing games in hopes of becoming a better surgeon.
The control sticks on the Wii he uses are actually probes the same kind he'll use in the operating room.
"This does really help," Dr. Henke told Ivanhoe. "It kind of coordinates your hand movements; gets you prepared to go into the operating room and perform laparoscopic surgery."
 Doctors had to make a few adjustments to turn the Wii accessories into surgical tools. Using cyber gloves to record and measure hand movements, bioinformatics expert Kanav Kahol, Ph.D. made a discovery the coordination used to play the games is similar to what's needed in laparoscopic or minimally invasive surgery.
Simulators that train doctors for surgery often cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but a pilot study at Banner Good Samaritan Hospital found playing the specially adapted Wii improved resident's skills by 50-percent.
"This gives us a much less costly way to train on fine motor skills that surgeons employ in surgery," Mark Smith, M.D., co-developer and a gynecological surgeon at Banner Good Samaritan Hospital, explained to Ivanhoe. Dr. Smith says the Wii has taken training to a whole new level.
 "They develop an increased efficiency, less errors, more fluid movement; they're just better," he said. Dr. Henke knows there's no restart button in real surgery, but for now he's sharpening his skills one game at a time.
Researchers say these computer games could give surgeons a way to improve their skills at home, and could even provide surgeons in third world countries a less expensive way to become more proficient.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Mark Smith, MD
Banner Good Samaritan Hospital
Phoenix, AZ
(602) 239-6507
Mark.Smith@bannerhealth.com
To read Ivanhoe's full-length interview with Dr. Smith, click here.
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If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Lindsay Braun at lbraun@ivanhoe.com.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
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