Cambridge Consultants develop miniature robot for cataract surgery

Tech development group Cambridge Consultants are developing the Axsis, a new, micro-sized robotic surgical unit designed for cataract surgery.

Measuring a meager 1.8 millimeters in diameter, the Axsis features 2 robotic arms which use tendon-like cables for precise movement, with each cable measuring just 110 microns in diameter, approximately the same as a human hair.

The cords are made from gel-spun polyethylene, which the company says is stronger than kevlar. The arms are designed to be controlled by 2 haptic joysticks, which use sensing algorithms to minimize human error risk.

“You can see where the robot is, see where the lens is, see where the relevant anatomy is. And by having a computer in the loop between when the surgeon’s moving their hands and the robot moving, that computer can recognize when the surgeon’s about to make a motion that can go outside and actually puncture the lens, for example, and stop that motion,” Cambridge Consultants advanced surgical systems head Chris Wagner told Reuters.

Cambridge Consultants said the Axsis system is still under production and will need several years to move from prototype to usable tool, but that the device is a showpiece for future miniaturization in surgical robotics.

“I think the fact that it’s a 1.8 millimeter diameter robot that’s operating on the size scale of the eye, it’s exciting. This just opens the door to a number of different types of procedures that you can do that previously weren’t possible,” Wagner said.

Material from Reuters was used in this report.

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