Static and dynamic accuracy of vitreoretinal surgeons

Accuracy in manual manipulation in a simulated microsurgical environment has been studied. Three vitreoretinal microsurgeons completed a series of static and dynamic tasks. Results for overall rms position error, overall maximum position error, and estimated physiological tremor amplitude were calculated. The rms amplitude of the error vector in three dimensions averaged 166 μm in a stationary pointing task, and 2009-4506 μm in the dynamic tasks. The maximum error vector magnitude during the stationary task averaged 408 μm during the stationary tests, and 3531-6788 μm in the dynamic tasks. The rms amplitude of tremor during the stationary task averaged 76-101 μm in the three spatial coordinates, with an average vector magnitude of 156 μm rms.