Nintendo-Wii-Based Training Improves Laparoscopic Surgeons’ Skills

First- and second-year surgical residents showed significant improvement in 16 skills related to laparoscopic surgery at the conclusion of a four-week structured program using a Nintendo Wii, according to a study published online February 27, 2013, by PLOS One. The Wii-based training did not utilize a medical training program but instead used three games that required the use of hand-eye skills such as object manipulation, camera angle adjustment, movement precision, depth perception, and 3D visualization. Residents, none of whom had experience in laparoscopic surgery, were divided into two groups of 21 each, with the control group avoiding all video games during the study and the intervention group participating in the four-week program.