Nintendo balance board provides cheap alternative for stroke victims
polycounter lvl 14
http://gizmodo.com/5450150/in-early-tests-99-wii-balance-board-outperforms-17885-medical-rig
Another day, another story about some cheap, plastic Wii motion control accessory finding an application outside of gaming. In this case, it's the balance board, and not only is this device helping stroke victims recover, it's saving them money, too. In fact, doctors at the University of Melbourne found that the balance board, normally used for pseudo Yoga or navigating Mii's down a virtual ski slope, was so sensitive it could very well replace traditional laboratory-grade "force platforms" doctors use to assess a patient's balance.
When doctors disassembled the board, they found the accelerometers and strain gauges to be of "excellent" quality. "I was shocked given the price: it was an extremely impressive strain gauge set-up," said lead researcher Ross Clark, in an interview with New Scientist.
Even better, Clark's team has already published a paper that verifies the Wii balance board is "clinically comparable" to the nearly $18,000 lab force platform. That's great news for many smaller physio clinics that would otherwise be unable to afford the traditional rig. URL="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527435.300-wii-board-helps-physios-strike-a-balance-after-strokes.html"]New Scientist[/URL
Send an email to Jack Loftus, the author of this post, at jloftus@gizmodo.com.
Really amazing. A $100 Wii accessory outperforms something the medical industry uses that costs $18,000.
[edited out because people don't like alternative viewpoints]
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Replies
You honestly think the Wii Balance board could remain at $100 if it still had to go through all the same costly medical device regulations that products deemed more official have to go through?
http://mises.org/freemarket_detail.aspx?control=279
Read steps 1 & 2. (I don't condone #4 for the record)
Also see here for a related topic...
http://www.pointoflaw.com/columns/archives/002821.php
Wouldn't that skyrocket the price of the balance boards?
The free market will kick in and any savings in the production cost will more than likely go right into padding the bottom line not really a discount to consumer. Why lower your price and cut what could be a huge profit margin when you're customers are already used to paying insane prices.
Unless there is some actual competition which I don't see, the prices will stay up as high as they can keep them, which is another awesome rule of the free market... Charge the most that people can pay before they go to your competition.
If your competition likes to have high profit margins maybe you can settle on an unwritten agreement to leave prices high, another awesome way the free market system rocks.
Great for making money, bad for actually driving down costs.
As said, that has nothing to do with government regulation.
Junkie.. Look up supply and demand. I don't mean to be demeaning. But A: Wii was sold initially at a very low profit margin. The money is in the games. B: The Wii is made by the factor of 10 than those devices. C: Those devices paved the way for the Wii. Finally.
If anything, you have just made an argument against for Profit Health companies.
Your argument would hold water until I mention something called "Lasik". Where the price is constantly dropping all the time. What used to be a $10,000 procedure is now $500
Every other thing medical related goes up in price year after year despite more people demanding a medical service. Lasik is not under heavy regulation and it is also not covered under health insurance.
I thought it'd make for good debate as to why medical costs are so high. If you don't care then don't post and never complain in the future about the high price of medical care.
People who don't care to analyze the issue are the ones who tend to get screwed over the most.
You make assumptions without all the knowledge. It could easily be because as it become more well known, the cheaper it became in volume. IE... Again. Supply and demand.
From my previous post...
Eliminate all licensing requirements for medical schools, hospitals, pharmacies, and medical doctors and other health care personnel. Their supply would almost instantly increase, prices would fall, and a greater variety of health care services would appear on the market.
Competing voluntary accreditation agencies would take the place of compulsory government licensing--if health care providers believe that such accreditation would enhance their own reputation, and that their consumers care about reputation, and are willing to pay for it.
Because consumers would no longer be duped into believing that there is such a thing as a "national standard" of health care, they will increase their search costs and make more discriminating health care choices.
Do you have any education as an economist, a political philosopher, or a medical engineer?
Do you find it productive when people who can't draw a square start 'debates' on art?
A licensing requirement is a static price. Does it add to the cost? Yes. Will supply and demand offset it. Yes. next.
How is giving them a higher profit margin going to drive down costs. Right now any cost saving goes right to the shareholders, not lower costs.
After a few years (10 I think?) 'generics' versions are allowed to pop up, and the cost of the drug drops significantly. Maybe this, mixed with the supply/demand aspect of simply having more doctors trained in the the process these days, are why things like Lasik drop so much in price?
Stuff like this http://www.livescience.com/technology/091229-3d-bioprinter.html isn't cheap.
ps and you're troll with that last post. Nice that people like Vig and joe can post intelligently without attacking.
btw I'm not coming up with anything on my own that your previous post seems to insinuate. I provided links. Yes a lot of economists are in agreement with it.
Proves and now troll, your grasp on internet slang is as unsteady as your hold on the english language.
You're not coming up with anything, presenting anything in a coherent manner, saying anything true, or demonstrating any understandings of the issue you're 'debating'. You are beating your chest because something sounds good to you, and all of the buffoons who havent realized had better take notice. This is silliness, this is imbecility, and this is not going to educate anyone or foster any intelligent discussion.
Vig and joe distinguish themselves with a remarkable capacity to humor inane bullshit posted in a pseudo-intellectual frame.
This would be fine if you actually had any intention of participating in a debate, but you, as you have time and again, are simply looking to berate anyone who will listen with the same, tired talking point over and over. This is not a debate.
You've taken what is really a cool story, and shat all over it with your own personal agenda.
Just think of all the awesome drugs we would've gotten faster to the market! Look how great the free market was for toys coming from China too! Lead paint is cheap and really not THAT dangerous right? oooooh wait.
Eliminate all licensing? Fantastic idea!!
Hey guys. Parnell Pharmaceuticals has just opened up for business! Yup, I'll sell you whatever you want. I can't verify if what you are getting is what you ordered (cause I've never taken a medical course in my life) but hey IT'S CHEAP. Operators are standing by to sell you whatever you want...because you don't need a prescription! Prescriptions are just more red tape. You want a drug? Just call and we'll sell it to you! Go online, with all my awesome profits I went ahead and created my own local 'voluntary' agencies to make sure I get the highest ratings. Because I know accreditation is important to you consumers so no worries I look safe too!
Free markets are AWESOME for profit. No doubt, but seriously if you think large corporations are going to care about safety that's hilarious. It's cheaper and more profitable to ship the untested drugs and pay off the people that die or are harmed by the drug.
B
That's actually a really unfair claim for this thread. Berate?
Yeah a personal agenda that cares to lower medical care costs for people. Shame on me...lol
I'll leave it alone...sheesh.
edit: Ninjas, how was your experience over at Mises? That's really cool that you attended.
broken balance board has no securtity so tell someone if its broken
so i think its recomended for home use
(i imagine a wiifit recover from stroke edition)
Crazy, right???????
http://www.google.com/search?q=political+message+boards&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a