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ture: You can rotate the new assistant scopes. If you happen to be doing
right eyes in the room and then a left eye comes in, you just pivot the
head and rotate the assistant scope. You used to have to take the sur-
geon's oculars off to rotate it. Now it just spins from one side to the
other.
4. High-resolution recording
With our old scope and camera system, there were times when I'd
mention a small pupil or a dense cataract and people in the room
would say they couldn't see it on the monitor. Now, if I have a resident
or a rep in the room, they can see everything. They know what to do
next and what we're going to need next, because the resolution is so
good. That, too, has a lot to do with the red reflex.
I don't need to record a lot of cases. But when there's something new
or really interesting, it's nice to have that option. When we first got our
new system, I did my first laser cataract procedures with a proctor who
recorded them and put them on a flash drive. As it happened, I was giv-
ing a talk at Tulane University a month later. She said, "Here they are, in
order." That was really helpful.
5. Surgeon comfort
Ergonomics have been a major problem with ophthalmic scopes for
years. A number of surgeons have been forced to undergo neck sur-
gery because they spent long hours in awkward postures to do eye sur-
gery. Today there are options. Some microscope makers offer
adjustable eyepieces so that the surgeon can sit in the upright position,
no matter his or her height. Virtually all have wireless foot pedals that
let you easily change the scope's settings without looking up. Some
offer technology that shortens the working distance for retinal sur-
geons. One relatively new technology places the microscope image on
O P H T H A L M O L O G Y
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