FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The first-in-human bimanual vitrectomy performed with a robot at Ghent University Hospital, Belgium, was presented here at the Retina World Congress.
“We as humans have limitations. One of the limitations we have is the intrinsic physiological tremor that is about 200 µm to 350 µm. Also, it is difficult for us to hold a fixed position with an instrument for more than 2 minutes,” Fanny Nerinckx, MD, said. “We do think that robots could overcome those limitations.”
The first-in-human bimanual vitrectomy performed with a robot at Ghent University Hospital, Belgium, was presented here at the Retina World Congress.
Image: Adobe Stock
Robots can be more precise, cause less trauma to the retina and perform surgery faster. They can help train fellows and are also more ergonomic and comfortable for the surgeon. They will be instrumental to the delivery of new therapies in the subretinal space, such as gene therapy, subretinal implants, stem cells and nanoparticles, Nerinckx said.
The studies conducted by the team of Marc de Smet and Robert MacLaren at Oxford pioneered robotic eye surgery with the Preceyes system, and since then, other companies have entered the space. The robot used in Ghent is called Luca and is manufactured by the French startup AcuSurgical.
“It is telemanipulated. … It has two pods [robotic arms] placed on each side of the patient’s head, and it allows us to perform bimanual robotic surgery, and the surgeon is at a piloting station,” Nerinckx said.
Standard instruments and disposables can be used, with an adapter for each vitrectomy system.
For this first-in-human study, core vitrectomy was performed in a 73-year-old pseudophakic man who had a full-thickness macular hole. Surgery began with the insertion of the instruments in the trocars, moving them on the XYZ axes. Once inside the eye, the instruments were moved with shafts by the surgeon from the piloting station.
“I have two shafts in my hand that I am moving like instruments, and the robot is reproducing all the movements I’m doing,” Nerinckx said.
The next step will be a multicenter study on the performance of full robotic vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane peeling. Integration of intraocular OCT, AI and synergy with digital microscopy are also in the pipeline.
Sources/Disclosures
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Nerinckx F. First in human bi-robotic VR surgery. Presented at: Retina World Congress; May 9-12, 2024; Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Disclosures:
Nerinckx reports having financial disclosures for AcuSurgical, Bayer, DORC, Leica and Novartis.