Transparent optical neurosurgical instruments. Technical note.
Neurosurgical instrumentation over the last two decades has improved with the increasing use of the operating microscope and has provided much better visualization and lighting of the surgical field. During this time, dissecting instruments have become smaller, but they sacrifice some of the microscopic gains because they are made of opaque metal. This has the disadvantage of hiding from the surgeon the area of the surgical field being worked on. This paper reports the development of transparent instruments that are strong enough to be used in dissection and yet do not sacrifice part of the improved visualization and lighting gained with the operating microscope. Made of a high-strength plastic, these instruments can be used for dissection in surgical procedures and allow the surgeon to look through them and observe the tissues underneath. He can watch the condition of blood vessels and nervous tissues with an improved visibility that can help to avoid damage to delicate structures. Furthermore, as hidden structures such as small vessels come into view they are identified earlier. These instruments can also incorporate jeweled cutting edges and use their optical properties to improve further visualization of the surgical field.
D006801:Humans; D008866:Microsurgery / Q000295:instrumentation; D009493:Neurosurgery; D013525:Surgical Instruments