Stroke Patients Use Wii to Recover Motor Functions

Scientists have recently presented the conclusions of a new study, which appears to indicate that using the virtual reality game technology employed by the popular Wii gaming console may be of use for medical applications as well. At the 2010 International Stroke Conference of the American Stroke Association, experts showed that stroke patients who suffered severe motor function impairment could benefit from exercising moves with the Wiimote, the controller this console uses. This therapy method was deemed to be both safe and effective for the stroke victims, ScienceDaily reports.

“This is the first randomized clinical study showing that virtual reality using Wii gaming technology is feasible and safe and is potentially effective in enhancing motor function following a stroke, but our study results need to be confirmed in a major clinical trial,” the St. Michael's Hospital Li Ka Shing Institute Stroke Outcomes Research Unit Director, Gustavo Saposnik, MD, Msc., explains. He has also been the lead investigator on the new effort, which was conducted at the University of Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, in Canada. The analysis was focused on both large and small muscle groups, and on the benefits training with the Wii had on improving their function.

The investigations included 20 stroke patients that survived their ordeal, with an average age of 61 years. All the participants had suffered from mild to moderate ischemic or hemorrhagic strokes, and they were randomly assigned to various groups. One of these groups played card games, another stacking games, while the third played Wii tennis or Cooking Mama. The study period stretched for two weeks, during which time patients were subjected to eight intensive, 60-minute-each sessions of playing the games they were assigned to. The study period began about two months after the test subjects had suffered the stroke.

“The beauty of virtual reality is that it applies the concept of repetitive tasks, high-intensity tasks and task-specific activities, that activates special neurons (called 'mirror neuron system') involved in mechanisms of cortical reorganization (brain plasticity). Effective rehabilitation calls for applying these principles. Basically, we found that patients in the Wii™ group achieved a better motor function, both fine and gross, manifested by improvement in speed and grip strength. But it is too early to recommend this approach generally. A larger, randomized study is needed and is underway,” Saposnik concluded.