Oct 1, 2007 9:39 am US/Central
Therapists Using Nintendo Wii For Rehab
by Angela Davis
Minneapolis (WCCO) ―
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The video game allows you to grip a motion-sensing wireless controller, and swing your arms as if you were playing tennis or bowling or boxing. (File)
Video games are big business, but they also get a bad rap for keeping kids on the couch, but now the Nintendo Wii is getting high praise for helping people get moving again.
Even if you haven't played the Nintendo Wii, you have probably seen it. The video game allows you to grip a motion-sensing wireless controller, and swing your arms as if you were playing tennis or bowling or boxing. It gets your whole body moving, but in a controlled setting.
Physical therapists at the Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis are now using the Wii to help stroke patients recover. It's an experiment, but so far the results have been great.
We saw 77-year-old Jerry Pope getting a workout playing a virtual tennis game. He suffered a debilitating stroke in June. Pope said that the Wii has enabled him to regain his balance, and the use of his arms.
"Not only am I moving the hand, my feet are moving, I am jumping around, it is as if I am really playing the game. It is motivational, makes you feel like you are progressing, even if you are not and that helps you," he said.
Before his stroke, Pope was a semi-pro tennis player. He initially tried the traditional exercises recommended by physical therapists, but found them repetitive and boring.
He says the Wii is fun and it is helping him make progress. His therapists agree.
Right now just a few hospitals around the nation are trying this, but the Army has also jumped on board. Injured soldiers in Landstuhl, Germany are also regaining their strength by playing virtual games on the Wii.
"It is not designed to be used in therapy per se, but some of the games are very useful to activate the patient, then it is a matter of, from a research point of view, to try to develop these concepts to something that is dedicated, specialized for research... for rehab," said Lars Oddsson, director of the Sister Kenny Research Center.
Oddsson added they are looking at conducting at clinical study of the effectiveness of the Wii in helping patients recover. It would require a comparison group that does traditional physical therapy exercises. For right now, this is all just an experiment, but the results look promising.
Matthew White is an occupational therapist who started working with Pope after his stroke.
"He was still having trouble getting up, balancing and walking and that is significantly improved as you can see. His foot work and working on the tennis, he is doing so well ... made a remarkable recovery in general. His arm movements, reaction and timing have improved significantly," he said. "We are using the Nintendo Wii system as a way to practice re-learning movements we used to know how to do and we know the brain can make changes if we can give it lots and lots of practice."
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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