A pioneering device has been developed by specialists at the University of Utah that may be used in the future to improve the precision of all eye operations. This technology will allow patients with retinal diseases to be treated using delicate and complex gene therapies, marking a huge step forward for eye surgery and offering novel solutions to difficult-to-treat conditions.
There has been a new breakthrough in robotic surgery, extending its scope to ophthalmology to help specialists operate on the ultra-delicate and extremely thin structures of the eyes, in some cases achieving results that would be next to impossible for a hand not assisted by a surgical robot. This is the promising potential of a device developed at the University of Utah in the United States, thanks to a collaboration between surgeons, bioengineers, physicists and other specialists in a multidisciplinary team.
As explained in the journal Science Robotics, performing eye surgery means working in extremely tight spaces and on internal structures like the retina (the eye’s nerve fibre layer), which can be just one millimetre thick, if that. To add to these challenges, the patient may make involuntary movements or rotate their eyes while the surgeon is operating, exposing themselves to major risks.
Greater precision for retinal surgeryaggiore precisione per l’operazione alla retina
The surgical robot is still in an experimental phase. However, it may prove especially useful in the most advanced therapies, such as gene therapies for treating inherited retinal diseases that potentially lead to blindness, say the researchers.
An example is the treatment approved by the US health authorities in 2020 for a condition caused by mutations in the RPE65 gene. This treatment involves injecting a correct copy of the gene behind the retina, between two ultra-thin cell layers. With current techniques, this is a complex and risky retinal operation. But, it could be made safer and more effective with the new surgical robot.
A surgical robot that adapts to patients’ movements
The system developed by the Utah-based scientists involves putting a helmet on the patient’s head to help keep it perfectly still from the perspective of the robot, as shown in a video uploaded on YouTube. The surgical robot is mounted directly onto the helmet and its arm moves with the patient’s head, cancelling out the effect of involuntary movements. This “machine” allows the surgeon to reach otherwise inaccessible areas, making the movements very precise and filtering out any hand tremors. The results look promising.
Animal tests and future prospects for ophthalmology
So far, the surgeons have tested the new device on pig eyes mounted onto special goggles, which a group of volunteers agreed to wear, at no risk to the individuals. This allowed the surgeons to simulate operative conditions as faithfully as possible with the new ophthalmic robot. Like having a “superhuman hand”
Tests will now continue to fine-tune the system and get it ready for the first procedures on real patients.
So, if all goes to plan, this could represent a major breakthrough in robotic surgery, revolutionising the way in which eye operations are performed and opening up new treatment opportunities for eye conditions that are currently difficult to treat, such as retinal diseases.
