I. Introduction
Vitreoretinal surgery requires advanced skills at or over the limit of clinicians’ physiological capabilities. This type of surgery is performed in a confined space with restricted free motion of surgical tools. Insertion via a sclerotomy (an incision in the sclera of the eye) limits how the clinician can hold the tool. The forces exerted between ophthalmic tools and eye tissue are often well below human sensory thresholds [1]. For Epiretinal Membrane (ERM) peeling surgery [2], where a micron-scale internal limiting membrane on the retinal surface is removed (Fig. 1, A), the forces exerted by the surgeon are required to be less than 7.5 millinewtons to avoid irreversible damage to the retina [1]. As such the benefits of surgical robots can be exploited to improve patient care during vitreoretinal surgery.