Nintendo 3DS Could Have Medical Applications

Late in 2010 Nintendo put out warnings saying that children under the age of six should not be allowed to play with the new Nintendo 3DS handheld because it could affect the development of their eye muscles, but optometrists are saying that the new gaming device could actually be useful in diagnosis of development problems.

Michael Duenas, who is representing the American Optometric Association, has stated, “The 3DS could be a godsend for identifying kids under 6 who need vision therapy.”

The association believes that those children who are suffering from problems like amblyopia, commonly known as lazy eye, could be quickly detected because of their inability to see the three-dimensional effect that is central to the Nintendo 3DS experience.

Even with those who see the three-dimensional images could be having eye development issues if they report discomfort of dizziness and should be checked by a doctor.

The American Optometric Association says that such eye problems are easy to deal with when caught before the age of six, but currently only a limited number of kids are tested before that milestone.

Other ophthalmologists have said that there's potential in using the Nintendo 3DS as a diagnostic tool, but also mentioned that specialists need time with the device before actually incorporating it into a useful medical test.

The Kinect motion tracking system from Microsoft has been launched in early November 2010 and was recently adapted to two very different yet equally important medical duties.

The Kinect can be used in surgery to allow doctors to quickly call up and explore important images, without leaving the sterile environment and needing to scrub in again.

The method makes surgery quicker and cheaper.

The device can also be used to make tests linked to some childhood disorders more objective, based on how the possible patients move in a 3D space.