Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen and and the Eindhoven (TU/e) based startup Preceyes have entered into a collaboration to research the benefits of robotic assistance for training, and performance of eye surgeons. “Such benefits might result in increased patient safety and health outcomes, while decreasing cost of ophthalmic care”, according to the partners.
Preceyes already collaborates with hspitals in Oxford and Rotterdam.
Rigshopitalet will lease the PRECEYES Surgical System and research its benefits by combining it with an EyeSi virtual-reality training system (VRmagic, Holding AG, Germany). They will focus on vitreoretinal procedures, among the most complex in eye surgery.
The Department of Ophthalmology at Rigshospitalet has a research program focused on effective training of eye surgeons, employing virtual-reality modalities to evaluate performance and skill. Their research group has been the first in the world to provide evidence that virtual-reality training improves novice surgeons in their performance of cataract surgery. The current research is aimed at applying these results to vitreoretinal procedures.
Preceyes’ high-precision robotic system targets ocular surgery, with vitreoretinal surgical procedures as the initial target market. The technology promises to improve the delivery of existing ocular surgery and enables the development of new treatments such as high-precision drug delivery. The PRECEYES Surgical System has been successfully used in the world’s first robot-assisted eye surgery in University Hospital Oxford in 2016 and is currently under development for application in various vitreoretinal procedures, among others in Rotterdam.
Prof. Morton Dornonville de la Cour, Head of the Department of Ophthalmology at Rigshospitalet said: “Delivering safe surgery to patients is paramount to what we do as eye surgeons. By using objective measures to compare traditional surgery with robot-assisted surgery we can understand how to give better care. It is also vital that surgical training improves in tandem with the advances in surgical technology. We believe that both patients and surgeons stand to benefit from this research.”
Prof. Marc de Smet, CMO of Preceyes said: “Surgical skill is the cumulation of accumen and practice. Through this collaboration, we will better understand the hurdles, requirements, and time needed to skillfully and safely use our robotic platform as well as demonstrate the benefits that the platform provides. I cannot think of a better team to work with in achieving this goal.”
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