Chinese researchers have developed an autonomous robotic system capable of performing highly delicate eye injections within the confined space of the human eye, a breakthrough that could significantly improve the safety and precision of treatments for retinal diseases.
The system was created by scientists at the Institute of Automation under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and has demonstrated exceptional performance in laboratory and animal testing. According to findings published in Science Robotics, the robot achieved a 100 percent success rate in both subretinal and intravascular injections during trials.
Eye surgery, particularly procedures involving the retina, is considered extremely challenging due to the organ’s fragile tissues and limited operating space. The newly developed system addresses these difficulties by using advanced algorithms for three-dimensional spatial perception, ultra-precise positioning across different scales, and accurate trajectory control, allowing its robotic arm to operate with remarkable stability.
Tests conducted on eyeball phantoms, ex vivo pig eyes and live animal models showed a substantial reduction in positioning errors. Researchers reported that the autonomous robot reduced average errors by nearly 80 percent compared to manual surgery and by about 55 percent compared to procedures performed with surgeon-controlled robotic assistance.
The results point to the clinical viability of autonomous intraocular microsurgery, with researchers highlighting improvements in precision, safety and consistency. They believe the technology could shorten surgical training times and enable complex eye procedures in remote or challenging environments where access to specialist surgeons is limited.
