Pros and cons of using ORBEYE™ for microneurosurgery

Objective: To evaluate the pros and cons of using a newly developed microscope, ORBEYE™, during microneurosurgery. Patients and methods: ORBEYE™ use in 14 microneurosurgical procedures was retrospectively assessed by nine neurosurgeons after the procedure. A questionnaire comprising 20 questions was designed and used for evaluation. Results: Compared with the current gold standard, the binocular microscope, ease of setting up the equipment was scored the highest, whereas ease of conducting surgery in a position of an assistant was scored the lowest. Among characteristics of ORBEYE™ itself, the space-saving feature was scored the highest and was followed by the ability to perform procedures in a comfortable position. The only characteristic that was rated below average was ease of operation in a position of an assistant. Neurosurgeons with greater experience (more than five procedures using ORBEYE™) provided significantly higher scores (p = 0.0196) for characteristics of ORBEYE™ itself compared with neurosurgeon with fewer ORBEYE™ experience. Conclusions: The main benefits of the ORBEYE^TM are its compact size and freedom from focusing through the eye lens of a conventional binocular microscope. However, it appears to be disadvantageous for operating in a position of an assistant because the surgical field has a rotated view on the monitor from a position of an assistant. Nonetheless, because of certain advantages, we believe the ORBEYE™ could be of additional help to use of conventional binocular microscope at the moment and will facilitate microneurosurgery in the future.