Micro active forceps with optical fiber scope for intra-ocular microsurgery

New concept of eye microsurgery system is proposed. The final goal of our research project is not only improving surgical tools but also establishing new surgical system applicable today's most difficult microsurgery at the bottom of eyeball. As a first step of long range systematic research, new type of micro forceps with active joint to enlarge surgical area and built-in thin optical fiber for micro operation on the retina is first designed and prototyped. Since this micro active forceps is equipped with thin optical fiber inside the stem to obtain lateral view of retina, drastic improvement of fine operation can be achieved. Convectional eye surgeon could see the surgical domain only from the top view, therefore it was extremely difficult to know the depth and distance between tool's tip and retina surface. The effectiveness of prototype is verified experimentally. Moreover, some miniature mechanical parts of this device are fabricated by micro stereo lithography so called IH process developed by our group. This method has been contributing to minimize the development time for trial and error process.