Eye surgery can restore a patient’s vision, but only if
the surgeon can see the inner structures of the eye
clearly. Imaging both the cornea (front exterior surface
of the eye) and the retina (rear interior surface of the
eyeball) requires a surgical microscope augmented by
a specialized viewing system. Such systems can add as
much as an inch to the total height of the microscope
system, though. That can cause neck and back strain
for surgeons, who can spend six to eight hours a day
operating. When Volk Optical set out to design the
second-generation, automated version of its MERLIN
surgical viewing system, its goal was to deliver the
performance surgeons demand in the smallest possible
form factor. An integrated micro-stepper-motor
package from MICROMO (Clearwater, FL) made it easy.
Retinal procedures can range from removing a portion
of the vitreous humor that fills the eyeball to repairing
detached retinas. Surgeons need to be able to switch
between viewing the cornea and viewing the retina
without delay. The problem is that from an optical
perspective, magnification bears an inverse relationship
to depth of field. Although surgical microscopes are
sophisticated instruments, they cannot keep both
the front and rear of the eye simultaneously in focus
at high magnification. At the same time, a surgeon
doesn’t want to worry about adjusting the focus of the
microscope simply because he or she is working in a
different spot. That’s where the surgical viewing system
comes in.