Cataract surgeon Dr David F Chang presented a first-of-its-kind robotic cataract procedure on a porcine eye at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) conference in Boston, US.
During his lecture at the event on April 5-8, Dr Chang discussed using Foresight Robotics’ ORYOM Surgical Robotics Platform to perform a complete remote robotic cataract procedure.
Dr Chang, a clinical professor at the University of California and past ASCRS president, also 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 20ft away from the eye. The robotic arms were precisely mirroring what my hands were doing,’ he said.
Foresight co-founder, president and chief medical officer, Dr Joseph Nathan, added: ‘This was an exciting milestone for us – debuting a cataract procedure that has not yet been presented in a public conference forum. 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.’