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Nintendo Wii Rehabilitates Injured Soldiers, Stroke Victims

by Ryan Rayhill on October 3, 2007 at 05:07 PM

Nintendo Wii Rehabilitates Injured Soldiers, Stroke Victims

Since its release late last year, the motion-sensitive Nintendo Wii has become a runaway success for many reasons, including famously keeping the aging and elderly active with a variety of sports titles.

Given the video-game console's unorthodox penchant for promoting physical activity instead of discouraging it, it seems only natural that physical therapists have begun putting the system to use to help patients achieve better balance and motor skills. As Minneapolis/St. Paul CBS affiliate WCCO reports, therapists at the Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital are seeing great results among stroke patients who play 'Wii Tennis.' In addition to actually exercising the patient back to health, the therapists note that the Wii makes the process of rehabilitation more fun. According to WCCO, the U.S. Army has also also hopped aboard the Wii Train, testing the system out on injured soldiers in Landstuhl, Germany to help them regain their strength.

With Nintendo's upcoming 'Wii Fit', which includes a pressure-sensitive balance board that can be used for everything from push-ups to yoga to aerobics on the way early next year, we expect that more practical uses for the Wii's unique controls are on the way.

From Engadget

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Tags: Army, Nintendo, Physical Therapy, PhysicalTherapy, Wii, Wii Fit, Wii Sports, WiiFit, WiiSports

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