  High-resolution real-time intraocular imaging of retina at the cellular level
is very challenging due to the vulnerable and confined space within the eyeball
as well as the limited availability of appropriate modalities. A probe-based
confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) system, can be a potential imaging
modality for improved diagnosis. The ability to visualize the retina at the
cellular level could provide information that may predict surgical outcomes.
The adoption of intraocular pCLE scanning is currently limited due to the
narrow field of view and the micron-scale range of focus. In the absence of
motion compensation, physiological tremors of the surgeons' hand and patient
movements also contribute to the deterioration of the image quality.
  Therefore, an image-based hybrid control strategy is proposed to mitigate the
above challenges. The proposed hybrid control strategy enables a shared control
of the pCLE probe between surgeons and robots to scan the retina precisely,
with the absence of hand tremors and with the advantages of an image-based
auto-focus algorithm that optimizes the quality of pCLE images. The hybrid
control strategy is deployed on two frameworks - cooperative and teleoperated.
Better image quality, smoother motion, and reduced workload are all achieved in
a statistically significant manner with the hybrid control frameworks.
