La Wii ayuda a mejorar las habilidades de los cirujanos

Viendo TechTear me encontré lo siguiente:

Según un estudio de la New Sceintist Magazine, cirujanos principiantes que jugaron con la Wii tuvieron un rendimiento mejor que aquellos que no lo hicieron.

Ocho cirujanos residentes (una muestra un poco pequeña para mi gusto) que usaron la Wii antes de realizar una cirugía virtual obtuvieron puntajes 48% mejores en esta que sus pares que no la usaron.

Juegos como el Marble Mania, que requieren movimientos pequeños y precisos son los que más ayudan a los cirujanos a mejorar o mantener sus habilidades.

Desde hace varios años los cirujanos utilizan videojuegos como el Marble Mania para mejorar su coordinación entre la vista y sus manos, especialmente con joysticks. También su uso es popular entre operadores de gruas u otro tipo de maquinarias.

Los resultados del estudio se presentarán en la conferencia Medicine Meets Virtual Reality, que se llevará a cabo el próximo mes.

Fuente: TechTear

Original message in english:

Video game training: it's not just for athletes and soldiers anymore. According to New Scientist Magazine, researchers are developing a surgeon training program for the Wii after a study showed surgical trainees performed better after play sessions with Nintendo's console.

The study found that eight surgical residents who played the Wii before performing virtual surgery with a professional training tool (called ProMIS) scored 48% higher in tool control and performance than those who didn't. Now Dr. Kanav Kahol and Dr. Marshall Smith, of the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, want to create Wii software that surgical residents could train with at home. This technology might also be beneficial for developing countries that can't afford expensive virtual training tools.

We know what you're thinking: that software already exists, and it's called Trauma Center. But surprisingly, the Truama Center games weren't mentioned at all -- either the good doctors don't know they exist, or don't think they're quite realistic enough. Interestingly, Marble Mania was cited as being particularly helpful due to the small, precise motions it requires.

"The whole point about surgery is to execute small, finely controlled movements with your hands, and that is exactly what you get playing Wii," said Dr. Kahol to New Scientist Magazine, noting only certain games offer quality training. "You don't gain a lot from swinging an imaginary tennis racket."

The doctors will be presenting their results to the Medicine Meets Virtual Reality conference in California later this month.