Premio Applico "Idea applicata dell'Oftalmologia Italiana 2014" per il progetto Suturing With Light- SWeetLight

The main objective of the project is to design a robotic consolle for laser welding of the corneal tissue in penetrating keratoplasty, lamellar and endothelial keratoplasty, in pediatric cataract surgery and for closuring corneal incisions. The device will be composed by a near infrared, low power, diode laser to induce the welding effect in the wound; a robotic platform that will consists of a 7 degrees of freedom robotic arm system and a mounted vision system allowing the robotic arm to be driven using a visual servoing approach; a sensorised end effector, with force and distance feedback, that will control different applicator handpieces to deliver the laser light; a disposable ready-to-use preparation of a suitable chromophore. The final robotic laser platform will provide a minimally invasive procedure to support or substitute standard suturing, thus reducing surgical times, improving the healing process of the wounds and enabling suturing of thin tissues in unaccessible sites.