Virtual Reality Glasses and “Eye-Hands Blind Technique” for Microsurgical Training in Neurosurgery

• Published in: World neurosurgery 2018-04, Vol.112, p.126-130
• Main Authors: Choque-Velasquez, Joham, Colasanti, Roberto, Collan, Juhani, Kinnunen, Riina, Rezai Jahromi, Behnam, Hernesniemi, Juha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Exoscope; Eye-hands blind technique; Microsurgery; Microsurgical training; Neuroendoscopy; Smartphone; Virtual reality glasses
• ISSN: 1878-8750; 1878-8769
• DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2018.01.067

Microsurgical skills and eye-hand coordination need continuous training to be developed and refined. However, well-equipped microsurgical laboratories are not so widespread as their setup is expensive. Herein, we present a novel microsurgical training system that requires a high-resolution personal computer screen, smartphones, and virtual reality glasses. A smartphone placed on a holder at a height of about 15–20 cm from the surgical target field is used as the webcam of the computer. A specific software is used to duplicate the video camera image. The video may be transferred from the computer to another smartphone, which may be connected to virtual reality glasses. Using the previously described training model, we progressively performed more and more complex microsurgical exercises. It did not take long to set up our system, thus saving time for the training sessions. Our proposed training model may represent an affordable and efficient system to improve eye-hand coordination and dexterity in using not only the operating microscope but also endoscopes and exoscopes. •Microsurgical skills need continuous training to be developed.•Traditional microsurgical laboratories are expensive.•We set up a training model using a computer, smartphones, and virtual reality glasses.•We progressively performed more and more complex microsurgical exercises.•Our proposed training model is an affordable and efficient system to improve eye-hand coordination and dexterity in microsurgery.