We consider a micromanipulation problem in eye surgery, specifically retinal vein cannulation (RVC). RVC involves inserting a microneedle into a retinal vein for the purpose of targeted drug delivery. The procedure requires accurately guiding a needle to a target vein and inserting it while avoiding damage to the surrounding tissues. RVC can be considered similar to the reach or push task studied in robotics manipulation, but with additional constraints related to precision and safety while interacting with soft tissues. Prior works have mainly focused developing robotic hardware and sensors to enhance the surgeons' accuracy, leaving the automation of RVC largely unexplored. In this paper, we present the first autonomous strategy for RVC while relying on a minimal setup: a robotic arm, a needle, and monocular images. Our system exclusively relies on monocular vision to achieve precise navigation, gentle placement on the target vein, and safe insertion without causing tissue damage. Throughout the procedure, we employ machine learning for perception and to identify key surgical events such as needle-vein contact and vein punctures. Detecting these events guides our task and motion planning framework, which generates safe trajectories using model predictive control to complete the procedure. We validate our system through 24 successful autonomous trials on 4 cadaveric pig eyes. We show that our system can navigate to target veins within 22 micrometers of XY accuracy and under 35 seconds, and consistently puncture the target vein without causing tissue damage. Preliminary comparison to a human demonstrates the superior accuracy and reliability of our system.

翻译：本文研究眼科手术中的微操作问题，具体针对视网膜静脉插管术（RVC）。该术式需将微针穿刺入视网膜静脉以实现靶向给药，操作中需在避免周围组织损伤的前提下，精确引导针尖到达目标静脉并完成穿刺。可将RVC类比于机器人操作中研究的“触及”或“推送”任务，但额外增加了软组织交互时的精度与安全约束。现有研究主要集中于开发提升外科医生操作精度的机器人硬件与传感器，而RVC的自动化问题仍未得到充分探索。本文提出首个基于极简配置（机械臂、穿刺针、单目摄像头）的RVC自主策略。该系统完全依赖单目视觉实现精确导航、目标静脉轻柔定位及无组织损伤的安全穿刺。全程采用机器学习进行感知并识别关键手术事件（如针-静脉接触与静脉穿刺）。事件检测结果驱动任务与运动规划框架，通过模型预测控制生成安全轨迹以完成手术。我们在4只猪离体眼球上开展了24次自主试验验证系统性能：系统可导航至XY精度22微米内、耗时35秒以内的目标静脉，并持续完成无组织损伤的目标静脉穿刺。初步人类对比实验表明，本系统具有更优的精度与可靠性。