Surgical Equipment

Spectacle Surgical Loupes: An Essential Piece Of Equipment In The Surgeons' Kit

Modern times have seen a breakthrough in surgical procedures. Today surgeons need to work with precision where the minute details during an operation can be observed. In order to be sure that all the details are meticulously observed by the surgeons, surgical loupes are used. It is basically a magnifying glass that is operational without the use of hands. It is primarily used by dentists for crowning the teeth but is also needed during vascular, plastic and ENT surgery where the loupes are required to view the small arteries, nerves and tendons. The article tries to cover all the different types of loupes available in the marketplace and reviews the points to be considered when purchasing the products.

Surgical loupes have a range of magnifying degrees and the amount of magnifying necessary is dependent on the type of surgery being performed. In general surgery, the degree of magnification required is less, around 2.5x, whereas in extra specialized surgery, a higher magnification loupe of 5.5x is normally used. In general cardiac surgery, a loupe of 3.5x would suffice where as for neurosurgery or tendon and hand operation, 4.5x to 5.5x loupes are used. Even for screening sutures in micro surgery, loupes are an integral part of the operation.

The magnification standard in loupes ranges from 2.5x to 5.5x. Even higher degree of magnification are available but is expensive. It has to be kept in mind that the type of loupe used affects the field of vision and prior to purchasing the loupe, its usage in the type of surgical procedure has to be seriously contemplated.

All surgical loupes have exceptionally high resolution which enables the surgeons to have a clear picture of the affected area during the operation. This is only possible by using loupes with high grade lenses which are an integral part of the loupe. Light weight loupes are more in demand as they are comfortable for the surgeons during operations. Before purchasing such instruments, these factors need to be seriously considered.

Another point to be noted is the intensity of vision of the loupes. As a wider field allows more clarity, though, with an increase in loupe magnification there is lessening in the area of vision. While selecting surgical loupes, it has to be ensured that the loupes allow the user to set particular angle of convergence along with declination for optimum vision. It is also important to know how the loupes are going to be mounted, whether spectacle, flip-up or head band.

In the market, there are many manufacturers along with suppliers of surgical loupes, the predominant one being Designs for Vision. They supply loupes ranging between 2.5x to 6.0x magnification and also a chain of expanded field loupes. Such expanded field area loupes are categorized under 3.5x - EF to 6.0x - EF. Another leading supplier of repute is Surgical Acuity, which manufacturers a diverse variety of surgical loupes together with the Dimension-3TTL, the Eye Max flip-up and other designer versions.

Today surgeons can not operate without the surgical loupe irrespective of the kind of surgery they are engaged in. It is advisable to undertake in-depth research on different loupe manufacturers along with the suppliers before deciding which loupe suits the particular surgical procedure.