Spotlight-based 3D Instrument Guidance for Autonomous Task in Robot-assisted Retinal Surgery

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Robotics
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Retinal surgery presents significant challenges for surgeons.
• Robot-assisted interventions offer a promising approach to enhance surgical capabilities.
• Precise instrument navigation is critical for successful retinal microsurgery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel 3D navigation method for microsurgical instruments in robot-assisted retinal surgery.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of spotlight-based navigation compared to manual and cooperative control methods.
• To assess the performance of the Steady-Hand Eye Robot (SHER) with the proposed navigation system.

Main Methods:

• Development of a novel 3D instrument navigation system utilizing spotlight projection.
• Implementation of the navigation method on the Steady-Hand Eye Robot (SHER).
• Performance evaluation through a vessel tracking task in a surgical phantom with Remote Center of Motion (RCM) constraints.

Main Results:

• The spotlight-based automatic tracking with SHER achieved an average tracking error of 0.013 mm.
• The system maintained a keeping distance error of 0.1 mm from the desired range.
• Significant improvements in tracking accuracy were demonstrated compared to manual and cooperative control methods.

Conclusions:

• The proposed spotlight-based 3D navigation method enhances precision in robot-assisted retinal surgery.
• The Steady-Hand Eye Robot (SHER) equipped with this system shows superior performance for microsurgical tasks.
• This technology holds potential for improving outcomes in complex ophthalmic procedures.