A targeted drug delivery platform for assisting retinal surgeons for treating Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD)

In this paper we present our latest robotic setup, which has been modified for sub-retinal interventions. The setup consists of: 1) sub-retinal micro cannula with automatic pump; 2) Micromanipulator; 3) patient fixation mechanism and 4) clinically compatible workstation. The primary objective of this work is to allow ophthalmologists to improve administration of substances such as drugs, stem-cells and gene cargos to their desired targets in the sub-retinal microstructures. Such a delivery method will enable effective treatment of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). AMD is the leading cause of blindness in developed countries and as yet there is no efficient treatment. To validate the precision of the system a successful targeted delivery scenario with the proposed setup and using an intra-operative OCT integrated microscope in a clinical environment is presented in this paper.