Abstract
Light pipe is a tool providing illumination for delicate operations inside the eyeball in an eye surgery. Traditional light pipes with straight shafts have to be reoriented in order to enlarge its illustration range, which implies more risk of damage to the sclera and requires greater operation space for the handle. In order to overcome these limitations, this paper has proposed a novel robotized handheld light pipe based on concentric tubular structure. Tube parameters are selected based on the anatomical dimension of eyeballs. Novel actuation designs are described to meet the requirements of the intraocular procedures. An intuitive control scheme is implemented to facilitate surgeons’ operations. Furthermore, the benefit of the precurved tube compared with that of a straight tube is evaluated through experiments. It has been demonstrated that the proposed design as a light pipe holds the promise of enhancing intraocular surgeries.
