Design and Experiment of an Ultrasound-Assisted Corneal Trephination System

Abstract

According to the advantages of ultrasonic vibration cutting, an ultrasound-assisted corneal trepanation robotic system is developed to improve the accuracy of corneal trephination depth and corneal incision quality in corneal trephination operations. Firstly, we analyzed the reasons for the difficulty in controlling the depth of trephination in corneal transplantations from the perspective of the biomechanical properties of the cornea. Based on the advantages of ultrasonic vibration cutting, we introduced an ultrasonic-vibration-assisted cutting method for corneal trephination and analyzed the cutting mechanism. Secondly, we described the surgical demands of corneal trephination and listed the design requirements of a robotic system. Thirdly, we introduced the design details of said system, including the system’s overall structure, the ultrasound-assisted end effector, the key mechanisms of the robotic system, and the human–machine interaction interface. We designed the end effector based on ultrasonic vibration cutting and its eccentric adjustment system in an innovative way. Additionally, we then presented a procedure for robot-assisted corneal trephination. Finally, we performed several cutting experiments on grapes and porcine eyeballs in vitro. The results show that, compared with manual trephine, ultrasound-assisted corneal trephination has a better operation effect on the accuracy of corneal trephination depth and corneal incision quality.