David Briscoe, a physical therapist in The Cross Lanes, USA, has taken to using the Nintendo Wii to help patients with their rehabilitation, sort of Wii-habilitation.

The console allows patients to exercise using non contact activities, such as hitting virtual footballs with their heads. One such patient, Valerie McGill, regularly tries to get her head to the balls to help with her balance.

It was David’s idea to include the Nintendo Wii as a piece of equipment for his patients at the MedCare centre. He calls the new physio practise “Wii-Hab.”

The beauty of the Nintendo Wii is that players can make the movements as though they were doing the activities for real, but without the strains to the muscles involved with them. For example they can play ten pin bowling without having to lift a heavy bowling ball, which is perfect for someone suffering from arthritis.

David Briscoe says about the use of the Wii:

We’re supplementing her gym workout with this interactive technology.

As a fan of the Wii himself, Briscoe also realises the importance of having the wrist strap of the Wii remote secured to her hand.

I put a hole in the wall at home when it flew out of my hand.

After playing the Wii for some time, he realised how good the console would be for his physiotherapy patients.