'Wii-habilitation': Using video games to heal burns

Rehabilitation therapists from the William Randolph Hearst Burn Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center are using the motion-sensitive Nintendo Wii video game console, along with traditional methods, to help patients recover from life-changing injuries.

For burn and skin-graft patients, moving and stretching the skin is very painful but imperative for a successful recovery. To play the video games, patients use wireless remotes that control actions on a screen to simulate realistic motions, like swinging a tennis racquet or swatting a baseball.

The burn center is also using Guitar Hero III, a special add-on to the Nintendo Wii system whose controller looks like a miniature guitar. Patients strum a bar on the guitar's body and press color-coded buttons that resemble notes. Therapists hope the actions will help patients with burns on their hands, arms and shoulders regain fine-motor control.

Provided by Cornell University