Exploring High-Precision Non-Assembly Mechanisms: Design of a Vitrectome Mechanism for Eye Surgery

Lussenburg, Kirsten; Scali, Marta; Stolk, Maarten; Robijns, Daisy; Sakes, Aimée; Breedveld, Paul

doi:10.3390/ma16051772

Open AccessArticle

Exploring High-Precision Non-Assembly Mechanisms: Design of a Vitrectome Mechanism for Eye Surgery

by

Kirsten Lussenburg

^1,*

,

Marta Scali

²,

Maarten Stolk

¹,

Daisy Robijns

¹,

Aimée Sakes

¹

and

Paul Breedveld

¹

Bio-Inspired Technology Group (BITE), Department BioMechanical Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime, and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands

²

Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center International (DORC), 3214 VC Zuidland, The Netherlands

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Materials 2023, 16(5), 1772; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16051772

Submission received: 20 December 2022 / Revised: 14 February 2023 / Accepted: 17 February 2023 / Published: 21 February 2023

(This article belongs to the Collection 3D Printing in Medicine and Biomedical Engineering)

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Abstract

A vitrectome is a commonly used instrument in eye surgery, which is used to cut and aspirate the vitreous body out of the eye. The mechanism of the vitrectome consists of miniature components that need to be assembled by hand due to their size. Non-assembly 3D printing, in which fully functional mechanisms can be produced in a single production step, can help create a more streamlined production process. We propose a vitrectome design based on a dual-diaphragm mechanism, which can be produced with minimal assembly steps using PolyJet printing. Two different diaphragm designs were tested to fulfill the requirements of the mechanism: a homogenous design based on ‘digital’ materials and a design using an ortho-planar spring. Both designs were able to fulfill the required displacement for the mechanism of 0.8 mm, as well as cutting forces of at least 8 N. The requirements for the cutting speed of the mechanism of 8000 RPM were not fulfilled by both designs, since the viscoelastic nature of the PolyJet materials resulted in a slow response time. The proposed mechanism does show promise to be used in vitrectomy; however, we suggest that more research into different design directions is required.

Keywords: additive manufacturing; PolyJet; non-assembly; eye surgery; multi-material; high-precision

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MDPI and ACS Style

Lussenburg, K.; Scali, M.; Stolk, M.; Robijns, D.; Sakes, A.; Breedveld, P. Exploring High-Precision Non-Assembly Mechanisms: Design of a Vitrectome Mechanism for Eye Surgery. Materials 2023, 16, 1772. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16051772

AMA Style

Lussenburg K, Scali M, Stolk M, Robijns D, Sakes A, Breedveld P. Exploring High-Precision Non-Assembly Mechanisms: Design of a Vitrectome Mechanism for Eye Surgery. Materials. 2023; 16(5):1772. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16051772

Chicago/Turabian Style

Lussenburg, Kirsten, Marta Scali, Maarten Stolk, Daisy Robijns, Aimée Sakes, and Paul Breedveld. 2023. "Exploring High-Precision Non-Assembly Mechanisms: Design of a Vitrectome Mechanism for Eye Surgery" Materials 16, no. 5: 1772. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16051772

APA Style

Lussenburg, K., Scali, M., Stolk, M., Robijns, D., Sakes, A., & Breedveld, P. (2023). Exploring High-Precision Non-Assembly Mechanisms: Design of a Vitrectome Mechanism for Eye Surgery. Materials, 16(5), 1772. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16051772

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Exploring High-Precision Non-Assembly Mechanisms: Design of a Vitrectome Mechanism for Eye Surgery

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