Robot-assisted ophthalmic surgery

Abstract

Surgical robots have revolutionized a number of surgical subspecialties, including laparoscopic surgery, urology, gynecology, and orthopedics. Robots offer a number of potential improvements over unassisted human hands, such as tremor filtration, scaling of motion, enhanced dexterity in confined spaces, and extremely high precision. Several designs and prototypes have recently been introduced for use in ophthalmic surgery and they have been tested in animal models. Ophthalmic surgical robots have the potential to expand our treatment armamentarium, reduce complication rates, and hold future promise to treat surgical conditions that remain incurable today.