The Use of a Stereoscopic Camera for Recording of Microsurgical Operations: A 4-Year Experience

Objectives: The educational value of stereoscopic imaging in neurosurgical training has increasingly been recognized and its use increased in popularity during the last decade. Our objective is to describe our experience with stereoscopic documentation of microsurgical operations, focusing on one of the techniques we developed in our department.

Methods: Two cameras have been used: Leica-IC3D Digital Camera (Leica Microsystems, Wetzlar, Germany; still photographs) and TrueVision (TrueVision 3D Surgical, Santa Barbara, CA, USA; still photographs and videos). The cameras are positioned between the binocular head and the zoom optics (Leica IC3D) or instead of the binocular eyepiece across the bridge from the main eyepiece. The cameras are connected to a computer with a monitor (Planar-PL2010M) setup for stereoscopic three-dimensional (3-D) recording and playback viewing.

Results: We used this technique in a wide range of elective, scheduled, and emergency microsurgical operations over a period of 4 years (Leica IC3D) and 1 year (TrueVision). The recordings were used for postoperative discussion of the technical details of the operation as well as for creating a case library. The library now contains over 50 cranial and spinal cases. The acquired 3-D images were presented in two ways: for a small audience, for example in the operative theater or in the neuroanatomical laboratory, 3-D LCD screens were used; for a large audience, we used a dual-head projector with passive 3-D glasses.

Conclusions: Acquisition, editing, and replay of stereoscopic still and motion picture documentation are feasible. Its setup requires little time and it causes minimal interference during the operation. It provides a surgeon with feedback and teaching material that is superior to that in 2-D.