A robot that automatically scans a patient’s eyes for markers of different eye diseases. It is the latest ‘creature’ developed by Duke University engineers and ophthalmologists and presented in a study in Nature Biomedical Engineering.
Current diagnostic tools
Doctors and researchers use optical coherence tomography, or OCT, to diagnose various eye diseases, including glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration. During the imaging process, a probe sends a beam of light into the eye and measures how long it takes for various reflections to bounce to decipher the structures within the tissue. Machines for the Oct are traditionally large tabletop systems, which a highly skilled technician uses to acquire several images of the eye. Patients must rest firmly on the headrest and chin rest to ensure correct positioning and limit any movement. In addition to being uncomfortable, these headrests don’t fit everyone, making it difficult to scan the eye.
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How the robot works
The new tool, which combines an imaging scanner with a robotic arm, can automatically track and display a patient’s eyes in less than a minute and produce clear images like traditional scanners in specialist eye clinics. To use the scanner, the patient approaches the machine and stands in front of the robotic arm. 3D cameras positioned to the left and right of the robot help find the patient in space, while the smaller cameras in the robotic arm search for landmarks on the eye to accurately position the scanner. The system is able to scan both the macula (the part of the retina responsible for our central vision) and the cornea (the clear front of the eye), sites where many eye diseases occur. The tool takes less than 10 seconds to scan and image each eye and the whole process is complete in less than 50 seconds.
The advantages for doctors
One of the advantages of this new robot is that high operator specialization is not required. “State-of-the-art centers like the Duke Eye Center, where highly skilled and specialized technicians like ophthalmic photographers work are not available everywhere,” he said. Ryan McNabb, researcher in the Department of Ophthalmology at Duke University Medical Center. “But with our new tool, you don’t need advanced training to use it. This is why such a tool can easily be used in places such as optometrists’ offices, clinics or even emergency departments. ”And Mark Draelos, of the biomedical engineering department adds: “The robotic arm gives us the flexibility of portable OCT scanners, but we don’t have to worry about the operator’s tremor. If a person moves, the robot moves with it. As long as the scanner is aligned within an inch from where it needs to be on the pupil, the scanner can get an image that is as good as a desktop scanner. “
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A hygienic and practical system
Since the patient is never in physical contact with the robot, any hygiene problems and infectious diseases that may arise with the shared chin rest and headrest in traditional OCT systems are avoided. “The camera systems continuously follow the patient and allow the robot to maintain a safe distance,” said Draelos.
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At what point is the experimentation
The team has already started the next phase of clinical trials by starting to visualize the volunteers’ eyes to continue to refine the targeting of the robot. Next, they hope to be able to visualize patients who have retinal or corneal disease to test how accurately their robot can capture the abnormalities. “We are really bringing the Oct to patients rather than limiting these tools to specialized clinics and I think it will make it much easier to help a larger population of people,” McNabb said.
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