Games for Health Conference 2012

Don't miss the opportunity to see how gaming technology and gamification is being used in the world of health care. The upcoming Games for Health Conference 2012 will be in Boston later this month: June 12-14, 2012.

Bill Crounse, MD, senior director of worldwide health for Microsoft, will present “Connecting & Kinecting Health and Health Care,” which will explore how Microsoft and its partners are merging its information and game technologies to create global solutions for personal health and professional health care.

The 8th Annual Games for Health Conference is gearing up! On June 12-14 join hundreds of game developers, health professionals, and leading researchers to discover, brainstorm, and debate how videogame and videogames technologies can work to improve health & healthcare.

Learn more here.

FutureMed Executive Program

Introducing FutureMed Executive Program for a Deep Immersion into the Future of Medicine

Understand & Leverage Disruptive Exponential Technologies for Healthcare and Medicine so you can make Better Decisions

How will rapidly developing technologies such as low cost genomic sequencing, artificial intelligence, telemedicine, robotics, 24/7 body wearable monitors, smart pills, stem cells, synthetic biology, gene therapy, social networks, gamification of behavior, and crowd sourced health data affect the future of healthcare and medicine?

Singularity University’s new FutureMed, is an Executive Program, to be held May 10th-15th on the NASA Ames Research Park in Silicon Valley, which will provide a multidisciplinary, immersive and hands-on experience designed for those interested in exploring the future of health, biomedicine and convergent exponential technologies.

Will the Microsoft Kinect help you lose weight?

When the Sony Playstation came out with the EyeToy, people were using video games to exercise in front of their TV and they were losing weight. Then, Nintendo came out with the Wii console and people were more active than ever while they were playing video games. Even seniors were using it to stay more "fit."

Now, Microsoft has entered the physical activity gaming world with the Kinect. It's great to see that we're moving away from sedentary games and introducing physical activity into video games. Young kids (and old kids) who spend too much time in front of a video game may actually start getting exercise again!

We've now entered a new revolution where gaming is now turning in a form of exercise. I can't wait to see what comes next. Maybe it will be some type of Star Trek holodeck that leverages true virtual reality technology!

IBM Ushers In New Era of 3D Healthcare

Make sure to view this 3D Medical Imaging video here.

ARMONK, New York, November 9, 2010 – As we move into the era of electronic health information, IBM (NYSE: IBM) Researchers are working to make "3D healthcare" as commonplace as the tongue depressor and the stethoscope.

Tapping into technology similar to 3D movies and gaming -- combined with pumped-up computing power, resolution display and storage capacity -- 3D is entering a phase where it can be used to keep patients healthier. IBM scientists predict that 3D technology will be a useful tool for a wide range of applications including advanced imaging and diagnostics, patient education, medical research and analyzing patient data.

There are prominent areas where 3D healthcare has already taken hold, such as medical imaging, where doctors can rotate an x-ray or CT scan to gain a 360 degree view of an injury. IBM is working with the Mayo Clinic to create an advanced algorithm to use 3D images to analyze the brain in a more sophisticated way and increase the chance of spotting brain aneurysms by 70 to 90 percent.

Software (Virtual Reality Technology) Allows Doctors To Practice On Virtual Patients

Got this little summary in my ACPE Daily Digest Today:

The Washington Post (11/8, Wan) reports on "new software that uses the virtual reality technology employed by video game developers to view human anatomy. Called iMedic, the program creates a 3-D X-ray that allows doctors to examine the body from every angle." The "software exemplifies how the video gaming industry has penetrated academia, offering researchers and students a new way to understand techniques that aren't always easy to teach." And "as the technology becomes more refined, it is gradually earning the trust of medical professionals."

Medical students are open to learning using new media

American Medical News writes, "Med students open to learning via new media. However, their differing opinions about the games they would like to use and their effectiveness present obstacles."

The study defined new media as computer and video games, virtual-reality environments, social networks, websites, mobile devices, blogs and podcasts.

Do medical students even have time to play computer games? Perhaps if they all have an Apple iPad, they can squeeze 5 or 10 minutes to play a short little computer game. These games could be designed to be very educational. Wouldn't you love a little study break before your gross anatomy exam? Take your study break on the iPad and play a little anatomy game that will teach you the brachial plexus. Or, maybe you need to practice for the OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) by going through a virtual simulation.

I believe that novel new media technologies will significantly impact the world of medical education, graduate medical education, and even continuing medical education.

Here are some of the links mentioned in the American Medical News article:

"Medical student attitudes toward video games and related new media technologies in medical education," BioMed Central, June 24 (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20576125)

"Learning in a Virtual World: Experience With Using Second Life for Medical Education," Journal of Medical Internet Research, January (www.jmir.org/2010/1/e1)

Have you prescribed the Nintendo Wii?

Many people are finding health benefits by playing with the Nintendo Wii. People are losing weight, the elderly are maintaining coordination and balance, and everyone's having fun.

However, patients are also developing signs and symptoms of overuse. These sports injuries are being documented in the literature. Already, the "Wii Knee" has been described. Clinicians are talking about "Wii Shoulder" and other "Acute Wiitis." Forget diagnosing tennis elbow or rotator cuff injuries. Soon you'll be giving steroid injections to teenagers and nursing home residents who are spending too much time on the Wii.