Legal Niches

Wii Seen as Cheap Alternative for Assessing Concussions

By pete_gallagher

Citing its affordability and simplicity, researchers from Maryland and Ohio State University are trying out Nintendo's Wii as a means to evaluate the severity and lingering effects of concussions.

A Washington Post article on the subject indicates that taking tabs on an athlete's balance is one way to measure recovery from a blow to the head, but researchers are split on the effectiveness of using the videogame device.

Experts at Maryland have athletes get on board a Wii Fit and attempt to mimic three different yoga poses, once with their eyes open and once with them closed. They also play a weight-shifting game and, eventually, all data recovered from the activities is tabulated and stored. If a player receives a concussion, the thought is that team doctors would now posses 'a frame of reference to measure how far an athlete's ability to function is from its starting point.'

Once athletes met their pre-concussion scores, in theory, they could return to the field.
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Full post as published by GamePolitics.com on August 18, 2010 (boomark / email).