Influence of stereoscopic vision on task performance with an operating microscope.

Purpose: To determine the extent to which stereoscopic depth perception influences the performance of tasks executed under an operating microscope.

Setting: Laboratory of Experimental Ophthalmology, University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands.

Design: Experimental study.

Methods: Medical students were assigned (on the basis of their stereoacuity) to a stereo-sufficient group (depth perception ≤240 seconds of arc [arcsec]) or stereo-deficient group (≥480 arcsec). They performed a bead-stringing task (a mockup surgical test) under an operating microscope or a task on a cataract surgery simulator. The stereo-sufficient subjects also performed the bead-stringing task under artificial stereo-deficient conditions (binocular and monocular viewing).

Results: The study comprised 77 medical students. The stereo-sufficient subjects performed both tasks faster than the stereo-deficient subjects and artificially stereo-deficient subjects (P ≤ .024). In addition, a within-group analysis established that the stereo-sufficient subjects were faster at the bead-stringing task with stereoscopic viewing than under artificial stereo-deficient conditions with binocular viewing (P ≤ .011).

Conclusions: Having stereovision resulted in better initial performance on certain tasks involving the use of an operating microscope or cataract surgery simulator. However, this study did not show that stereo deficiency necessarily results in an inability to perform such tasks properly. Hence, it was not evident that for admission to an ophthalmology residency program, stereovision should be judged more stringently than other traits.

Financial Disclosure: No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.