A novel master-slave intraocular surgical robot with force feedback

Background Intraocular surgery is one of the most challenging microsurgeries. Unintended movements of human hand and lack of force feedback can seriously affect surgical safety. Methods We developed a novel master-slave robotic system with force feedback to assist intraocular surgeries. Isomorphism design was adopted to achieve intuitive control of the system. Contact force between instrument tip and tissues was measured with a force sensor developed by our group. Real-time force feedback was provided with one linear voice coil motor and two magnetic particle brakes in the master manipulator. Results Experiments were carried out to verify the proposed system. In the phantom experiment mimicking realistic surgical operations, the contact force significantly reduced by more than 30% with the force feedback when peeling the egg inner shell membranes. Conclusions Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of force feedback and indicate the promise of the presented master-slave robotic system for intraocular surgery assistance.