Human eye phantom for developing computer and robot-assisted epiretinal membrane peeling

A number of technologies are being developed to facilitate key intraoperative actions in vitreoretinal microsurgery. There is a need for cost-effective, reusable benchtop eye phantoms to enable frequent evaluation of these developments. In this study, we describe an artificial eye phantom for developing intraocular imaging and force-sensing tools. We test four candidate materials for simulating epiretinal membranes using a handheld tremor-canceling micromanipulator with force-sensing micro-forceps tip and demonstrate peeling forces comparable to those encountered in clinical practice.