Microscope A Surgical Eye-opener
The Age
Wednesday April 15, 1992
A Melbourne engineer has invented a miniaturised operating microscope, worn as a pair of spectacles. Two companies are investigating the commercial potential of the microscope, known as the MUDO (Melbourne University department of ophthalmology) Loupe.
It is hoped the ``spectacles" will eventually sell for a few hundred dollars rather than the $60,000-$80,000 for a conventional operating microscope.
The head of the ophthalmology department, Professor Hugh Taylor, said the battery-operated microscope was already being tested in Nepal, India and China.
The device was developed by Mr Ljubo Pericic, the head of the department's bioengineering unit. Professor Taylor said the MUDO Loupe could be used by neurosurgeons, ear, nose and throat surgeons and for vascular surgery.
He said it was faster to set up than the traditional operating microscope and ``could be used anywhere someone needs light and vision".
The MUDO Loupe had three crucial qualities, Professor Taylor said: magnification (six times), a bent lense (so light was reflected to the back of the eye), and a miniature light source in the middle of the ``spectacles". Its only limitation was its set magnification.
Professor Taylor said the microscope would have enormous application in developing countries.
Part of a $500,000 grant from Perpetual Trustees Victoria to the department helped in developing the Loupe. The Percy Baxter Charitable Trust gave $73,000 to the department to develop technical instruments.
The department also received $360,000 from the estate of Miss D.A. Edols, which will be used for a four-year project studying eye disease in Melbourne.
© 1992 The Age