Tue, Jan 06, 2009 | 15:35 GMT
Wii Fit being used for rehabilitation purposes in UK hospital
Patients in Seacroft Hospital in Leeds, England, are able to practice using their prosthetic limbs with the help of Wii Fit and the balance board, writes NintendoWorldReport.
Many prosthetic limb patients have trouble “getting their weight through the prosthetic limb,” says senior physiotherapist Lynn Hirst. Wii Fit helps them to see “where they are taking their weight.”
Patient David Crossland, 60, reckons Wii Fit is “marvelous” and that “it makes sure you have got your balance” which is important when “learning to walk again.”
Hirst also points out that the it has allowed Crossland to do things like “ski down a mountain or head a football during sessions using the machine – even though he has a prosthetic leg.”
Nintendo UK declined to comment “as this is led by the hospital and not any official Nintendo activity,” said a rep to videogaming247.
More through the link.
By Mike Bowden
3 comments
#1
Esha
06/01/09, 8:02 pm
I know it’s possible that this is all a bit of a marketing stunt but I can’t see that as more than a little marvellous. Entertainment tools promoting a better life for disabled people, that’s a cause any one of us could get behind, I’d imagine.
#2
Mike
06/01/09, 8:44 pm
Read the bit above “more through the link.”
#3
BraveArse
07/01/09, 10:08 am
Years of sporting abuse have left me hobbling like an old man and I have to say Wii Fit has continually proved itself a real help with the “rehab”. I’ve actually been using it to recover from badly torn achilles tendons and also build up the muscles around my old-man-arthritic knees – the balance and weight-shifting exercises have been an extremely helpful addition to my conventional physio stuff.
It’ll never help you beyond a certain point – but if you want it to, it’ll easily get you to a stage where you can start running or weight training. And the posture stuff is actually pretty good too.