Phase I trial on robot assisted retinal vein cannulation with ocriplasmin infusion for central retinal vein occlusion.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and feasibility of robot-assisted retinal vein cannulation with Ocriplasmin infusion for central retinal vein occlusion. METHODS: Prospective phase I trial including four patients suffering from central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO). Diagnosis was confirmed by preoperative fluo-angiography and followed by a standard three-port pars plana vitrectomy. Afterwards, a custom-built microneedle was inserted into a branch retinal vein with robotic assistance and infusion of Ocriplasmin started. Primary outcomes were the occurrence of intra-operative complications and success of cannulation. Secondary outcomes were change in visual acuity, central macular thickness (CMT) and venous filling times (VFT) during fluo-angiography two weeks after the intervention. RESULTS: Cannulation with infusion of ocriplasmin was successful in all four eyes with a mean total infusion time of 355 ± 204 seconds (range 120-600 seconds). Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) remained counting fingers (CF) in case 3 and 4, increased in case 1 from CF to 0.9LogMAR and decreased in case 2 from 0.4 to 1.3 LogMAR. CMT and VFT both showed a trend towards significant decrease comparing preoperative measurements with two weeks postintervention (1061 ± 541 µm versus 477 ± 376 µm, p = 0.068) and 24 ll 4 seconds versus 15 ± 1 seconds, p = 0.068, respectively). In one eye a needle tip broke and could be removed with an endoforceps. There were no other intervention-related complications. CONCLUSION: Robot-assisted retinal vein cannulation is feasible and safe. Local intravenous infusion with Ocriplasmin led to an improved retinal circulation.

Design and evaluation of a new bioelectrical impedance sensor for micro-surgery: application to retinal vein cannulation.

PURPOSE: Nowadays, millions of people suffer from retinal vein occlusion, a blind-making eye disease. No curative treatment currently exists for this vascular disorder. However, a promising treatment consists in injecting a thrombolytic drug directly inside the affected retinal vessel. Successfully puncturing miniature vessels with diameters between 50 and 400 [Formula: see text] remains a real challenge, amongst others due to human hand tremor, poor visualisation and depth perception. As a consequence, there is a significant risk of double-puncturing the targeted vessel. Sub-surfacic injection of thrombolytic agent could potentially lead to severe retinal damage. METHODS: A new bio-impedance sensor has been developed to visually display the instant of vessel puncture. The physical working principle of the sensor has been analysed, and a representative electrical model has been derived. Based on this model, the main design parameters were derived to maximise the sensor sensitivity. A detailed characterisation and experimental validation of this concept were conducted. RESULTS: Stable, repeatable and robust impedance measurements were obtained. In an experimental campaign, 35 puncture attempts on ex vivo pig eyes vessels were conducted. A confusion matrix shows a detection accuracy of 80% if there is a puncture, a double puncture or no puncture. The 20% of inaccuracy most probably comes from the limitations of the employed eye model and the experimental conditions. CONCLUSIONS: The developed bio-impedance sensor has shown great promise to help in avoiding double punctures when cannulating retinal veins. Compared to other puncture detection methods, the proposed sensor is simple and therefore potentially more affordable. Future research will include validation in an in vivo situation involving vitreoretinal surgeons.

In-Human Robot-Assisted Retinal Vein Cannulation, A World First.

Retinal Vein Occlusion (RVO) is a blinding disease caused by one or more occluded retinal veins. Current treatment methods only focus on symptom mitigation rather than targeting a solution for the root cause of the disorder. Retinal vein cannulation is an experimental eye surgical procedure which could potentially cure RVO. Its goal is to dissolve the occlusion by injecting an anticoagulant directly into the blocked vein. Given the scale and the fragility of retinal veins on one end and surgeons' limited positioning precision on the other, performing this procedure manually is considered to be too risky. The authors have been developing robotic devices and instruments to assist surgeons in performing this therapy in a safe and successful manner. This work reports on the clinical translation of the technology, resulting in the world-first in-human robot-assisted retinal vein cannulation. Four RVO patients have been treated with the technology in the context of a phase I clinical trial. The results show that it is technically feasible to safely inject an anticoagulant into a [Formula: see text]-thick retinal vein of an RVO patient for a period of 10 min with the aid of the presented robotic technology and instrumentation.

Robot-assisted retinal vein cannulation in an in vivo porcine retinal vein occlusion model.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the feasibility of robot-assisted retinal vein cannulation for retinal vein occlusion. METHODS: Prospective experimental study performed in in vivo porcine eyes. A standard three port pars plana vitrectomy was followed by laser-induced branch retinal vein occlusion. Consequently, a retinal vein cannulation with the help of a surgical robot and a microneedle was performed. Complete success was defined as a stable intravenous position of the needle tip confirmed by blood washout for at least 3 min. Secondary outcomes were the occurrence of intra-operative complications and technical failures. RESULTS: Cannulation was successful in 15 of 18 eyes with a complete success rate (duration of infusion of more than 3 min) of 73% after exclusion of two eyes from analysis due to failure in establishing a blood clot. There were no technical failures regarding the robotic device. The intravessel injections of ocriplasmin in two of two eyes led to a clot dissolution. In a subset of five eyes, a second cannulation attempt at the border of the optic disc resulted in a stable intravessel position and infusion during 362 (±138) seconds. CONCLUSION: Robot-assisted retinal vein cannulation with prolonged infusion time is technically feasible. Human experiments are required to analyse the clinical benefit of this new therapy.

Atherosclerosis Alters Loading-Induced Arterial Damage: Implications for Robotic Surgery.

BACKGROUND: Lack of intra-operative haptic information during robotic surgery increases the risk for unintended tissue overload and damage. Knowledge about the acute and chronic fundamental relationship between force load and induced damage in healthy and diseased arteries is crucial to enable intra-operative haptic feedback or shared autonomy and improve patient safety. METHODS: Arteries of wildtype and atherosclerotic mice were clamped in vivo for 2 minutes (0.0N, 0.6N or 1.27N). Histological analysis (Verhoeff's-Van Gieson, Osteopontin, CD45, CD105) was performed immediately, or after 6 hours, 2 weeks or 1 month. Endothelium-dependent and-independent vasodilatation was assessed immediately or 1 month after clamping. RESULTS: Endothelium dependent vasodilatation is worse after clamping of wildtype arteries, but is restored after one month. Clamping also results in flattening of the innermost elastic membrane of both genotypes, which is reversed over time for wildtype arteries but not for vessels from atherosclerotic mice. Higher osteopontin content in wildtype and LDLR-/- mice after 2 weeks suggests a phenotypic switch of the medial smooth muscle cells (SMCs), an effect that is reversed after 1 month. While inflammation in the intima diminishes, medial CD45 content rises through time in both genotypes. CD105 staining shows that even manipulation without clamping results in endothelial cell loss in both LDLR+/+ and LDLR-/- mice. CONCLUSIONS: Arterial clamping induces different acute and long-term injury to the vessel wall of atherosclerotic and healthy arteries.

Arterial Vasoreactivity is Equally Affected by In Vivo Cross-Clamping with Increasing Loads in Young and Middle-Aged Mice Aortas.

PURPOSE: To compensate for the lack of haptic feedback by surgical robots, limitation of exerted forces could be implemented. The limits should be based on the observed relationship between tissue load and induced damage. This study examines whether age-related changes influence this relationship. METHODS: Descending thoracic aortas of male C57BL/6J mice of 10, 25 and 40 weeks were clamped in vivo (no clamp, 0.5N or 2.0N) for 2 min. Functional integrity was tested in vitro by studying endothelium-dependent and -independent vasoreactivity. RESULTS: Endothelium-dependent relaxation deteriorated with increased clamping force at all ages. Clamping did not influence endothelium-independent vasodilation. Age (10, 25 and 40 weeks) did not significantly impact on the effect of clamping on endothelium-dependent and independent vasoreactivity. CONCLUSIONS: Within the tested conditions, mechanical clamping induces damage to the vascular endothelium, but not to the smooth muscle cells. Age has no effect on the obtained results in mice from 10 to 40 weeks old.