It's physical therapy gone hi-tech. Patients at a local rehab center are recovering from accidents and surgeries by getting their mobility back with the help of virtual 3D gaming technology. Much like the Wii or Xbox Kinect, they play games on tv, all while healing from their injuries. From "Kick the Bugs" to playing carnival games, Melissa Crowder of Murfreesboro is playing virtual games as part of her physical therapy.

"I was kinda skeptical because I'm not a gamer of any kind," says Crowder.

Melissa, who's recovering from neck surgery, is rehabbing at NHC Murfreesboro. Here, she's using the new Omni-VR, a virtual 3D gaming device used to help patients regain strength, balance and movement.

"It uses the 3D infrared camera to capture the patients' movements so they're the controller when we're doing exercises," says Melissa's physical therapist and Director of Rehab at NHC Margaret Greeson. "If we want to do lower extremity exercises, we don't say we're going to do lower extremity exercises, we say we're going to KICK THE BUGS! Or instead of saying we're going to work on high balance activities, let's go cut some flowers."

"It's built on exercising the body," says Crowder. "But, you don't realize it because you're more focused on playing the game."

The therapist chooses the difficulty setting based on the patient's need. Exercises vary for each person.

"The more I do there, I can tell every day I can do a little bit more," says Crowder. "I can tell it's making an impact."

The games don't replace traditional PT, but Margaret says a combination of the 2 makes for a quicker recovery and playing games gives patients a good distraction from their daily pain.

"We know what we're working on underlining the actual physical therapy part," says Greeson. "The patient sees it as more fun."

The Omni-VR system is used on stroke patients as well and the virtual therapy is covered by most insurance companies. The system is only 2 years old, so many of the physical therapists, like Margaret Greeson, are giving feedback and making suggestions to improve it.Midstate Facility Brings Rehab into the 21st Century - Nick Paranjape