Cardiopulmonary resuscitation soon could be taught using the Nintendo Wii video game console, students at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, said.

The American Heart Association has pledged $50,000 to fund the work by biomedical engineering students, the university said in a release Thursday.

Greg Walcott, an associate professor of biomedical engineering, devised the idea of a computer program that could be downloaded on home computers and synched with the wireless technology of the Wii remote to teach users proper resuscitation technique.

The students plan to make the program available, free of charge, on the American Heart Association Web site as early as this fall.

"The Heart Association's high interest in our students' innovations points to potential of this project and how it fits in with its desire to deliver reliable CPR education to the masses," faculty adviser Jack Rogers said.