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
- Getting started
- Models
- Equipment
