The world first robot-assisted
operation inside the eye has been performed by surgeons at Oxford’s John
Radcliffe Hospital using the PRECEYES Surgical System.
Robert MacLaren, Professor of Ophthalmology, used the
PRECEYES Surgical System to initiate a membrane peel, a standard procedure that
is performed over 0,5 million times annually. Preceyes’
high-precision robot assisted in lifting the membrane of micrometer
thickness, a task that demands the highest level of skill and experience from
the surgeon. This is the first patient ever to undergo this procedure with
robotic assistance.
Robot-assisted surgery have become
commonplace over the last decade. However, never before has a robot been used to
operate inside the eye for which even higher levels of control and precision are
required. The PRECEYES Surgical System enables to execute the most
delicate surgical tasks with an unprecedented level of control and precision.
The technology promises to improve the safety and
performance of existing ocular surgery as well as to enable new
treatments, for example high-precision drug delivery.
Preceyes and the team at the University of Oxford’s
Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology have worked together to enable this
landmark clinical trial. The trial is funded by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical
Research Centre with support from Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation
Trust, which runs the hospital. The clinical trial sponsored by the University
of Oxford is assessing the robotic system to perform new gene therapy
operations, which are currently under development and require ultra-precise
surgery under the fovea. This has resulted in the world first robotic surgery
inside the human eye.
Marc de Smet, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Preceyes said:
“This is the culmination of 10 years of work. Our initial aim is to push the
limits of eye surgery and facilitate current procedures. The ease with which
Professor MacLaren carried out the operation is a major step and a clear
validation of our technology and the benefits of robotic assistance.”
Robert MacLaren said: “There is no doubt in my mind that we
have just witnessed a vision of eye surgery in the future. We can certainly
improve on the current operations, but I very much hope that we can also do new
operations that currently we can’t do with the human hand. With a robotic
system, we open up a whole new chapter of eye operations that currently cannot
be performed. We can now do them with the robot.”
Further information
BBC
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Robot operates inside eye in
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