Cataract surgeon Dr David F. Chang has debuted a novel robotic cataract surgery procedure on a porcine eye at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS).
The technique – on display in April 2024 – uses ForSight Robotics’ Oryom platform which is being developed to amplify surgeons’ skills and to increase patient access to sight-saving surgery worldwide.
During his lecture, Dr Chang discussed his experience using the robotics plat-form to perform a complete, remote cataract procedure. He presented a video of the procedure and discussed the future potential for the ‘groundbreaking’ technology.
“This is the first time I’m showing a video of me operating on an animal eye, doing the entire procedure with robotic arms, while sitting at a workstation located 20 ft. (6.1m) away from the eye. The robotic arms were precisely mirroring what my hands were doing,” Dr Chang said.
Utilising AI-based algorithms, robotics, and advanced computer vision, the Oryom platform has already completed dozens of full robotic cataract procedures on an animal eye model.
“This was an exciting milestone for us – debuting a cataract procedure that has not yet been presented in a public conference forum,” ForSight co-founder, president and chief medical officer Dr Joseph Nathan said.
“With the expertise and support of world-renowned cataract surgeons like Dr Chang, we are seeking to transform the future of sight-saving eye surgery.”
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