title: The head-mounted microscope.
abstract: Microsurgical equipment has greatly advanced since the inception of the microscope into the operating room. These advancements have allowed for superior surgical precision and better post-operative results. This study focuses on the use of the Leica HM500 head-mounted microscope for the operating phonosurgeon. The head-mounted microscope has an optical zoom from 2× to 9× and provides a working distance from 300 mm to 700 mm. The headpiece, with its articulated eyepieces, adjusts easily to head shape and circumference, and offers a focus function, which is either automatic or manually controlled. We performed five microlaryngoscopic operations utilizing the head-mounted microscope with successful results. By creating a more ergonomically favorable operating posture, a surgeon may be able to obtain greater precision and success in phonomicrosurgery. Phonomicrosurgery requires the precise manipulation of long-handled cantilevered instruments through the narrow bore of a laryngoscope. The head-mounted microscope shortens the working distance compared with a stand microscope, thereby increasing arm stability, which may improve surgical precision. Also, the head-mounted design permits flexibility in head position, enabling operator comfort, and delaying musculoskeletal fatigue. A head-mounted microscope decreases the working distance and provides better ergonomics in laryngoscopic microsurgery. These advances provide the potential to promote precision in phonomicrosurgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Fujian Provincial College of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Seth H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Dailey
authors.forename: Sawyer A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Naze
authors.forename: Jack J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D006804:Ergonomics; D006801:Humans; D007818:Laryngeal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D020704:Laryngoscopes; D007828:Laryngoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D008853:Microscopy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008866:Microsurgery / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010784:Photomicrography / Q000295:instrumentation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results