Pneumatically Driven Ophthalmologic Surgery Robot with Intraocular Pressure Control

We developed a novel ophthalmologic surgery robot for needle insertion to assist ophthalmologists. The robot consists of a single-degree-of-freedom injection device with a needle on its tip and an intraocular pressure control device. The device is driven by a pneumatic cylinder and uses the back drivability of the actuator to estimate the needle forces. The insertion force of the needle is estimated from the position and pressure difference of the cylinder. This insertion force is recognized as a trigger to start intraocular pressure control and assist smooth needle insertion medical solution. The pressure is increased by the control of the syringe with a pneumatic cylinder. The operator can manually inject medication after the needle is inserted. The effectiveness of the robot was confirmed with experiments using porcine eyes. The robot can successfully insert the needle when the target intraocular pressure is 2.4kPa.