Microscopes and Equipment for Training
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Microscopes
Practicing surgery with a training microscope is an effective and efficient way to pick up microsurgical skills.
The operating microscope is a stereo microscope optimized for use in surgery. The key features are:
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Working distance (at least 200 mm)
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Variable magnification
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Illumination
Professional Grade Training Microscopes
Our training lab uses an Leica M651 microscope which is very nice but also very expensive
Budget Microscopes
Chung and his colleagues from South Korea describe using the Nikon SMZ645 microscope for training. Their used microscope had a working distance of 115 mm which is too close for proper microsurgery. They modified it with a 0.7 auxillary objective lens which increased the working distance to 150 mm.
Minimalist (and shoestring) approach
Adapted from chung2017:
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Jeweler's forceps x 2 (1 of the pair to be used as microsurgical needle holder)
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Iris scissors (as alternative to microsurgical scissors)
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Alligator clamps - with teeth filed off
Choosing a Jeweler's forceps
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11 to 13.5 mm long
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tip width 0.3mm
See also
Models for a list of useful microsurgery training models
Interpreting your SParTA score
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Introduction
This article helps you to get the most from the practice and the assessment.
Parts of the report
Principles behind the scoring system
Overall Score
The The final or overall score is the sum of the subscores.
Subscores
Timing
The time you took to perform the microsurgical suture task is recorded in the report, but does not contribute to the subscore or final score. However, it is provided to you as a another perspective of your performance. Our research has shown that trainees improve in both score and timing (i.e. they get faster) over the duration of our microsurgical course. All things being equal, a faster time reflect greater efficiency in performing the suturing task. During practice (and clinical work), speed should be not sought as an end to itself, but rather it should be a byproduct of confidence, effectiveness and efficiency.
Summary
See also:
- SParTA json format for a description of the export format.