Calibration Tool to Standardize Magnification during Smartphone-based Microsurgical Skills Training

Acquiring microsurgical skills outside the operating room has traditionally required not only a substantial amount of time and practice, but also a significant amount of equipment, such as an operating microscope. Difficulty in accessing such equipment hinders opportunities to acquire skills, particularly in environments with limited resources. Furthermore, the current era of restricted work hours has led to an increased demand for surgical skills training outside of the clinical setting. The near-ubiquity of the standard smartphone and its ability to magnify, illuminate, and record videos give it the potential to serve as an excellent tool to conduct training in microsurgical skills—particularly in the context of self-directed, home-based training. However, the variety of smartphones available and their inherent variability in technical and optical specifications have made it difficult to create a standardized, reproducible, and interchangeable system for smartphone-based microsurgical training. Therefore, we have developed a simple and effective calibration tool that ensures accurate magnification levels so that smartphone-based microsurgical training can be performed reliably with any device and in virtually any surroundings.