Beijing, Jan 21 || A team of Chinese researchers has developed an autonomous robotic system that is capable of performing delicate eye injections within the confined space of the human eye.
The surgery robot, developed by a team from the Institute of Automation under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, can potentially enhance the precision and safety of surgeries used to treat debilitating retinal diseases, news agency reported.
In the paper published in the journal Science Robotics, the team reported that the robot successfully performed subretinal and intravascular injections in animal tests with 100 per cent success.
Eye surgery, particularly involving the retina, is highly challenging due to the organ's tiny, soft structures.
The new system uses a suite of algorithms for three-dimensional (3D) spatial perception, cross-scale precise positioning, and trajectory control to guide a robotic arm.
In experiments using eyeball phantoms, ex vivo porcine and in vivo animal eyeballs, the autonomous robot significantly reduced average positioning errors by nearly 80 per cent compared to manual surgery.
The errors were reduced by about 55 per cent when compared to surgeon-controlled robotic surgery, the team said.