A new device for noncontact wide-angle viewing of the fundus during vitrectomy.

Noncontact wide-angle viewing of the fundus during vitrectomy has heretofore relied on an image inverter and a 90-diopter lens fixed with a tube under the microscope. A new device in which the 90-diopter lens is not connected to the microscope but, rather, is connected to an independent support system is described. This device offers many advantages: (1) focusing on the various parts of the eye during vitreous surgery need not be done manually but is achieved by the up or down movement of the microscope, (2) translation of the microscope is easier during tilting of the eye, (3) a lateral slit-lamp can be easily added for illumination of the fundus, and (4) there is no risk that the 90-diopter lens will touch the cornea.