Caroline Meers

Papers

Total Citations

154

H-Index

About

Caroline Meers is a pioneering researcher in ophthalmic microsurgery, with a primary focus on developing robotic-assisted interventions for retinal vascular diseases. Her groundbreaking work centers on the treatment of retinal vein occlusion (RVO), a major cause of vision loss, through the precise cannulation of occluded retinal veins. Meers’ major contributions include establishing the first methodologies for robot-assisted retinal vein cannulation, first in ex vivo models and then in living porcine eyes. Her 2016 study, cited 89 times, demonstrated the feasibility of using a robotic assistive arm to cannulate occluded retinal venules after inducing occlusion with the photosensitizer rose bengal. This was followed by a landmark 2017 in vivo study, with 65 citations, which validated the procedure in a living model using laser-induced branch RVO. These works collectively represent a critical step toward translating robotic microsurgery from the lab to the operating room, offering new hope for patients with retinal vein occlusions who currently have limited treatment options. Meers’ research is notable for its direct clinical relevance and its role in advancing the frontier of robotic-assisted ophthalmic surgery.