Recording and viewing stereoscopic ophthalmic surgical videos with smartphones

Abstract

ObjectiveTo determine whether stereoscopic footage of cataract surgery could be captured with smartphones and to develop a procedure for editing and viewing the footage. The authors sought to measure whether subjectively convincing stereo footage could be captured with smartphones, whether it would be possible to sync this footage for stereoscopic viewing, and whether these tasks could easily be performed at lower cost than commercially available options. DesignBrief research report. ParticipantsThe entities studied were phones and programs. MethodsSurgeries were recorded at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital. Two smartphones were attached to the eyepieces of a surgical microscope’s assistant scope. Surgical footage was recorded. Videos from the left and right eyepieces were edited and combined into videos that facilitated stereoscopic viewing. ResultsStereo footage was captured with 2 smartphones and edited to enable 3D viewing with both anaglyph glasses and head-mounted displays. Viewing experience was superior when using head-mounted displays compared to using anaglyph glasses. ConclusionsStereoscopic footage of operations performed under the surgical microscope may be captured and viewed using inexpensive equipment and simple procedures requiring minimal prior expertise. The techniques described in this paper may enable more training programs to capture and distribute 3D footage of their operations, enhancing the educational value of ophthalmic surgical videos.