Since video games have come about, it’s not surprising to know that the old Operation games have been left in the dust and become much more intense and interactive. The Wii game system is on its second medical game already, Trauma Center: Second Opinion.

If you don’t know what a Wii is, you’ve got to find out. It’s a cool video game system that’s more for us over-teens and early 20s folks. It’s interactive to the point that you hold a remote and you can control the movements on the screen.

I played Trauma Center last year and I ended up buying it a few weeks ago. My 20-year-old daughter wanted to rent it yet again. At this point, it made much more sense to buy the thing.

It’s a fun game. You get to remove shards of glass, do surgeries and more. It’s not an easy game and if you’re frustrated easily, it could be a good thing you didn’t go into surgery. There are some things I don’t like about the game though and from reading reviews, I know I’m not the only one. There’s too much “talking” as they change from one scene to another. I think it’s great the first time you play, so you can learn the story line, but really? If I’m playing for the fourth time that day, do I really need to hear it all again. No – if I’m playing for the fourth time in one day, I think I need a life!

When I was studying nursing, I was only in the operating room once, to observe. I didn’t see very much because I was so far back (purposely so!), so this is the closest I’ll ever get to surgery, unless I’m the patient.

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Image: Nintendo.com

Post from: Healthbolt

The people of her rural Indian village did not see this as a deformity. They believed that she was a ‘gift from God’, christened her ‘Lakshmi‘ after the four-armed Hindu Goddess of wealth, and queued outside the house to be blessed by the girl.

But the actual cause of the extra limbs was that the girl had a twin who hadn’t fully developed and instead became attached to Lakshmi’s body at the pelvis.

Lakshmi made headlines around the world last month when a team of surgeons spent 27 hours removing the extra limbs, separating her spinal cord and kidney from the twin, re-orientating the bladder and genital systems, and then closing up the pelvic girdle.

It was an amazing story with a heartwarming ending…

Now, just three months after the surgery, she is taking her first steps. According to Sharan Patil, chief orthopedic surgeon and chairman of Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore where the surgery was performed, Lakshmi is ‘… “now moving with a walker, holding onto objects — a table, a chair — and moving a little bit…”

Now you can watch Lakshmi’s journey on National Geographic Channel this coming Sunday (22 June) at 9pm Pacific.

If, like me, you can’t get the National Geographic Channel you can still get learn more about Lakshmi by visiting National Geographic online.

View the picture gallery, read a Q&A with Doctor Sharan Patil (lead surgeon), and see a preview of the hour long episode at the National Geographic website.

Post from: Healthbolt

Could you take a knife to your throat and cut? Not sure I could, but this man has done so, not once but twice. And in doing so, has become his own savior. Seems his throat swelled up to the point where he could not breathe and afraid that the emergency services would not arrive in time, decided to perform a little ‘life saving’ surgery.

Dead, not Dead…

Her heart stopped despite intensive medical treatment following two heart attacks. She had no brain waves for 17 hours and rigor mortis seemed to be setting in. The family said their goodbyes and the patient remained hooked up to the ventilator while possible organ donation was discussed. But it seemed Val Thomas had other ideas. She suddened ‘awoke’ and started talking. She is, according to the doctors, a medical miracle.

Solar Powered Bra…

Japanese inventors are at it again with another bizarre invention. This time they have come up with a unique way to raise awareness of global warming – an environmentally friendly bra. Designed to conserve energy, it’s able to generate enough power to charge an iPod or cell phone. There’s a few hitches though. You can’t wear clothing over it, it cannot be washed, and will get damaged in the rain.

Underwear that monitors blood pressure…

The Philips consumer electronics company want to create underwear that can constantly monitor a person’s blood pressure. Apparently, the sensors embedded in the waist of the underpants would be able to measure the ‘electrical impedance of the tissue beneath it – a property that changes as the pulse wave passes by.’

And finally…

How about a real life iron man that would be able to keep the body active and safe while it’s recovering from injury. That’s the idea behind this robotic suit, a sleek white ecoskeleton that is in the works at Cyberdine, Inc.

Post from: Healthbolt

 Their son Rhett suffers from chiari malformation , a structural defect that puts pressure on the brain stem which controls vital functions such as sleep, speech, circulation, and breathing. But thanks to experimental surgery designed to relieve this pressure, Rhett (and his parents) are now sleeping…

Unable to Forget – although most of us would love to have better recall of past events, no one wants to remember every single life event. After all, there are somethings in life that you just don’t want to remember. But for one woman, all events – good and bad – are stuck in her memory and won’t let go. She is Jill Price, author of ‘The Woman Who Can’t Forget’.

A Personality Test for Your Cat – The Feline-ality program, developed by Dr. Emily Weiss of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, is little like a ‘What Kind of Cat are you?’ quiz.

Might sound entertaining but this program, currently running in 45 shelters, aims to end the animal-human mismatches that often results in the cat being returned to the shelter. Prospective adoptees fill in a questionaire which gives them a color code. This color code will match up with a suitable cat personality – ‘leader of the band’, ‘the personal assistant’, or the ‘private investigator’ – that will make for a happy home for both human and cat.

Post from: Healthbolt