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Written by Super User

Published: 10 August 2020

It would be ideal to have an operating microscope or a training microscope available for practice. If this is not available, you can consider some of the alternatives below:

Retrofitted or repurposed industrial or other microscope

 

Loupes only

see: Pieptu, D., & Luchian, S. (2003). Loupes-only microsurgery. Microsurgery, 23(3), 181–188. https://doi.org/10.1002/micr.10126

Pros:

• learning to use loupes is necessary for microsurgeons
• portable
• many trainees already have loupes, if not, cheap ones are widely available

Cons:

• Limited magnification
• Do not learn to deal with microscope issues e.g. depth of field, controls etc.

Smartphone

The smartphone with a camera is almost ubiquitous, and can be used as a loupe/microscope alternative.

Amin and colleagues suggest using an iPad on a mount using zoom software to replicate a microscope. The set up can also record the practice to enable review and feedback. The article provides a 3x zoom image of straw ends being anastomosed using 7/0 prolene.

Pros: 

• Readily available
• Low or no cost

Cons:

• No binocular vision
• Limited zoom
• Do not learn to deal with microscope issues e.g. depth of field, controls etc.

See also

1. Getting started
2. Models
3. Equipment