Building Your Own Affordable High-Quality Surgical Training Microscope: A DIY Guide for LMICs

Introduction: Microneurosurgery requires intensive laboratory training to improve manual dexterity, hand-eye coordination under microscopical magnification, and surgical neuroanatomy knowledge. Such laboratories rely on expensive equipment, often unaffordable in LMICs. We developed a cost-effective microscope suitable for LMICs.
In this study, we aimed to construct a low-cost high-quality surgical training microscope, evaluate its effectiveness to meet specific training needs, and promote accessibility and affordability by providing do-it-yourself guidelines, enabling broader usage of similar microscopes in LMICs.

Methods: Essential features for a microneurosurgical training microscope include stereoscopic vision, magnification, working distance, and illumination. We assembled our microscope from an old ophthalmic microscope part ($76), an LED ring light ($25), a second-hand monitor arm ($50), and binocular tubes with eyepieces ($20). The old ophthalmic microscope part provided a stereoscopic lens system, which we mounted on the monitor arm, creating a fully functional microscope.

Results: The complete setup installed at the Lincoln F. Ramirez Neurosurgery Operative Skill Laboratory. It offers true stereoscopic vision, magnification options (6-40x), a 200mm working distance, and sufficient illumination for training. Subsequently we utilized our microscope with cadaveric samples without any issues.

Conclusion : We have shown that a low-cost high-quality microsurgery training microscope can be constructed and used effectively in laboratory settings. According to our experience, after enough training, it can be used easily in OR setting for other microsurgical disciplines, such as ENT, Ophthalmology, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and Vascular Surgery.