Microscope-Supported Indirect Lens for Vitreoretinal Surgery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vitreoretinal surgery faces challenges with indirect contact lenses, which are top-heavy and prone to positional instability, requiring additional assistance and extraneous operations to maintain a wide field of view, leading to increased trauma and surgical complications.
Innovation Solution
A surgical microscope attachment that mechanically couples the indirect contact lens to the microscope, allowing for movement and rotation while maintaining alignment with the optical axis, reducing positional instability and the need for additional personnel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If an indirect contact lens is used to provide a wide field of view of the fundus, then the field of view is improved, but the lens becomes top-heavy and positionally unstable requiring additional assistance
Solution Approach 1:
A support member is introduced as an intermediary between the indirect contact lens and the cornea. This support member carries the weight of the top-heavy lens and distributes it to the sclera, preventing lens displacement while maintaining the wide field of view capability. The support member acts as a mediator that resolves the conflict between lens weight and positional stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The optical system is segmented into distinct functional components: the indirect contact lens for wide-angle viewing, the support member for structural stability and weight distribution, and the corneal interface for optical coupling. This segmentation allows each component to optimize its specific function without compromising overall system performance.
2Area of stationary object
If an indirect contact lens is used to achieve wide field of view, then viewing capability is improved, but extraneous operations and surgical complications increase
Solution Approach 1:
The support member serves as a protective intermediary that prevents direct contact between the heavy lens and the cornea, eliminating the need for extraneous stabilizing operations. By distributing the lens weight to the sclera, it prevents corneal deformation and associated surgical complications.
3Stability of the object's composition
If additional personnel are used to stabilize the indirect contact lens, then lens stability is improved, but device complexity and surgical resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The support member enables the lens system to be self-stabilizing without requiring additional surgical personnel. The support member's structure automatically distributes the lens weight and maintains positional stability through its geometric design and interaction with the eye's anatomy.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables stable and wide-angle viewing of the fundus without extraneous operations, reducing surgical complications and trauma by maintaining lens alignment and flexibility during patient movements.
Implementation Method 1
An indirect lens creates an inverted real image in the intermediate image plane in front of the eye lens (between the eye lens and the surgical microscope)
Implementation Method 2
a small amount of refractive index-matching gel or fluid resides between the cornea and the contact lens to prevent unwanted extraneous interfacial reflections
Data Source
AI summary
An indirect contact lens is mechanically coupled to a surgical microscope during ophthalmic surgery, such as vitreoretinal surgery. The indirect contact lens rests on a cornea of an eye of a patient during the surgery but is supported by a surgical microscope attachment having multiple degrees of freedom to accommodate small movements of the eye while remaining aligned to an optical axis of the surgical microscope.