Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness worldwide, affecting nearly 200 million people, a figure expected to rise to 280 million by 2040. Current treatment involves doctors injecting medication into the side of the eye to prevent vision loss—a procedure requiring extreme precision and considerable preparation time. To streamline this process, researchers have developed a robotic assistant that can prepare for surgery in under five minutes while delivering retinal injections with micrometer-level accuracy.

The new system, created by researchers at the Technical University of Munich (Munich, Bavaria, Germany), represents a major advancement in robotic eye surgery. Unlike traditional surgical robots that require lengthy setup, this mobile platform autonomously locates the patient’s eye and iris using sensors and trained neural networks, positioning itself perfectly in a matter of minutes.

The robotic platform operates with three layers of precision: centimeter-level movement toward the operating bed, millimeter-level positioning of instruments, and micrometer-level precision during surgery. The robot’s manipulator, developed with a Japanese manufacturing partner, is capable of inserting a syringe into the retina with 15-micrometer accuracy—about one-tenth the width of a human hair. This allows medication to be precisely delivered to block the growth factors responsible for AMD-related vision loss.

One of the biggest challenges in retinal surgery is compensating for involuntary eye movements, even under anesthesia. To address this, the TUM team incorporated an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system that continuously captures images of the retina, enabling real-time tracking of movement. In laboratory tests with artificial eyes performing simulated sinusoidal motion, the robot successfully followed these movements for an entire minute, maintaining a deviation of just 25 micrometers—well within the acceptable range for safe drug delivery.

The precision and control offered by the robot could significantly reduce complications such as inflammation that sometimes occur during manual injections. While the technology has demonstrated remarkable performance in controlled settings, further testing is underway. The next phase will involve trials on pig eyes, which closely resemble human anatomy, followed by live animal experiments in early 2026. Clinical trials in humans are expected to begin a few years later, marking an important step toward integrating robotic precision into routine ophthalmic care.

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