[www.keralites.net] Oxford priest gets his sight back after surgery with a ROBOT...

 

Oxford priest gets his sight back after world-first eye surgery with a ROBOT to repair hole in his retina By Rebecca Taylor For Mailonline Father Beaver, pictured, said he felt completely relaxed when he was having the surgery Father William Beaver had revolutionary surgery inside his eye by a robot He suffered with distorted vision similar to looking in a hall of mirrors Robots could be the key to precise surgery where pulse of a doctor could threaten a haemorrhage A priest said he felt 'completely relaxed' as surgeons performed revolutionary surgery inside his eye with the aid of a robot. The patient, Father William Beaver, 70, an associate priest at St Mary the Virgin Church in Oxford, said his eyesight was returning following the operation, having previously experienced distorted vision similar to 'looking in a hall of mirrors at a fairground'. The procedure - the world's first robotic operation - was carried out by surgeons at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, who welcomed its success and said it could revolutionise the way such conditions are treated. Father Beaver told BBC Breakfast: 'I was completely relaxed and completely comfortable because I could see that all the technology was in place and all the goodwill was in place and all the skills were in place.   Professor Robert MacLaren says scientists 'have just witnessed a vision of eye surgery in the future' 'Because, you see, the key is the precision. The pulse coursing through the hand of the surgeon could have ruined it, could have given me a haemorrhage and this just made it, well, simple.' On completing the operation, Professor Robert MacLaren said: 'There is no doubt in my mind that we have just witnessed a vision of eye surgery in the future. 'Current technology with laser scanners and microscopes allows us to monitor retinal diseases at the microscopic level, but the things we see are beyond the physiological limit of what the human hand can operate on. 'With a robotic system, we open up a whole new chapter of eye operations that currently cannot be performed.'   Father Beaver, left, with his surgeon Robert MacLaren. Fr Beaver said his eyesight is returning after the operation The technology allows surgeons to operate with more precision than they could by hand Robert MacLaren, Professor of Ophthalmology, conducts surgery on Fr Beaver with the Preceyes robot  Professor MacLaren uses a joystick to control a needle operating inside Fr Beaver's eye The procedure was necessary because the patient had a membrane growing on the surface of his retina, which had contracted and pulled it into an uneven shape. The membrane is about 100th of a millimetre thick and needed to be dissected off the retina without damaging it. Surgeons normally attempt this by slowing their pulse and timing movements between heart beats, but the robot could make it much easier. Experts said the robot could enable new, high-precision procedures that are currently out of the reach of the human hand. The surgeons used a joystick and touchscreen outside the eye to control the robot while monitoring its progress through the operating microscope. This gave medics a notable advantage as significant movements of the joystick resulted in tiny movements of the robot. This is the first time a device has been available that achieves the three-dimensional precision required to operate inside the human eye. HOW DOES ROBOT EYE SURGERY WORK? This robot technology has been designed for vitreo-retinal eye surgery, which requires a huge amount of precision.  The surgery is performed with minimal invasion and tiny 0.5mm needles, but even the pulse through a surgeon's hand can be problematic. The Preceyes robot assists surgeons with this precision, with a piece of equipment that can line up on the operating table and be included or excluded as the surgeon needs it. The surgeon uses one hand to conduct surgery as usual, and uses the system with another, rotating a needle through a joystick that means his tremors are filtered out. When the surgeon relaxes his grip, the needles stop moving so drug delivery can be incredibly accurate.  Speaking at his follow-up visit at the Oxford Eye Hospital, Father Beaver said: 'My sight is coming back. 'I am delighted that my surgery went so well and I feel honoured to be part of this pioneering research project.' Prof MacLaren said: 'This will help to develop novel surgical treatments for blindness, such as gene therapy and stem cells, which need to be inserted under the retina with a high degree of precision.' The current robotic eye surgery trial involves 12 patients undergoing operations with increasing complexity. In the first part of the trial, the robot is used to peel membranes off the delicate retina without damaging it. If this part is successful, as has been the case so far, the second phase of the trial will assess how the robot can place a fine needle under the retina and inject fluid through it. Experts said this will lead to use of the robot in retinal gene therapy, a new treatment for blindness which is currently being trialed in a number of centres around the world.

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