System to assess accuracy of micromanipulation

The authors had previously developed an optical micro motion sensing system (M2S2) using a pair of orthogonally placed position sensitive detectors (PSD) to track 3D displacement of the tip of a microsurgical instrument in real-time. In the M2S2 system, an infrared (IR) diode is used to illuminate the workspace. A ball is attached to the tip of an intraocular shaft to reflect IR rays onto the PSDs. Instrument tip position is then calculated from the centroid position of reflected IR light on the PSDs. The M2S2 system together with a test platform is used as an evaluation system to assess the accuracy and physiological tremor of subjects performing micromanipulation tasks. Since the need to use the ball at the instrument tip prevents the subjects from performing the manipulation tasks precisely, a laser light is provided as a guide for the subjects to aim at the target precisely. A laser diode module is placed inside the instrument to provide the required laser light. The instrument intraocular shaft is replaced with a same-sized hollow tube to let the laser light from the instrument pass through down to the target. The laser light spot position on the platform is used to access the performance of the subjects. The laser light spot position is calculated from the tilt angle information provided by an accelerometer placed inside the instrument, and the instrument tip position information given by M2S2.