A comparison of super wide field microscopy systems in mohs surgery

Microscopic frozen section interpretation is one of the cornerstones of Mohs surgery. The recent development of super wide field (SWF) microscopy can improve accuracy and efficiency while reading microscope sections, and also decrease the physician's musculoskeletal and ocular strain. Super wide field microscopy systems increase viewable field area (VA) by combining low magnification objectives, eg, 1x or 2x (Figure 1), with eyepieces that have a higher field number. This article reviews 3 SWF microscopy systems: Leica DM2000 (Leica Microsystems, Wetzlar, Germany), Nikon Eclipse Ni (Nikon Instruments Inc., Melville, NY), and Olympus BX43 (Olympus, Center Valley, PA). The Leica DM2000's 1.25x objective results in a VA of 314.16 mm2. The Nikon Eclipse Ni's 1x objective results in a VA of 490.87 mm2. The Olympus BX43's 1.25x objective results in a VA of 352.99 mm2. The maximum VA at the lowest objective for Nikon is nearly 40% greater than for the Olympus and over 50% greater than for the Leica. The Nikon Eclipse Ni has a significantly higher maximum VA than the other 2 systems.