Structured Analysis of Stainless Steel 316L Material of Micro-Forceps Used in Vitrectomy Surgery by Biomechanics Modeling

Abstract

Micro-forceps are a promising minimally invasive means of grasping, peeling, pulling into the eye ball. However, there is currently a diversity of micro-forcep designs and application methods that have, primarily, been intuitively developed by the researchers. To enable the rational design of optimized micro-forcep devices, a greater understanding of human eye biomechanics under small deformations is required. The purpose of this study was to investigate the biomechanical analysis of micro-forceps which are tools for operations that require the microscopic manipulation of tissues in eye surgery conditions. Retinal microsurgery requires extremely delicate manipulation of retinal tissue where tool-to-tissue interaction exists. Behavior of a micro-forcep is analyzed in ANSYS under operation pre-load conditions in vitrectomy. The effect of numerical analysis was determination of strains and stresses in working part of the micro-forcep. Results of analysis indicate diverse values of strains and stresses distribution in working part of the micro-forcep depending on its geometry. With a change in the material, the friction force can be determined using the upper and lower boundaries of different materials to choose from. The results of this analysis are helpful for eye surgeons for clinical interest.