Artificial Eye Assembly for Ocular Pharmacokinetics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for studying ocular pharmacokinetics and treating eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy, face challenges due to the difficulty in assessing protein-based medicines in animal models, which are costly, time-consuming, and inaccurate due to anti-drug antibody formation and anatomical differences, leading to a need for improved solutions for studying treatments in the human eye.
Innovation Solution
An artificial eye assembly with modular, pressurized chambers that mimic the human eye's compartments, allowing for compartmentalized and automated in vitro modeling of ocular drug kinetics, simulating healthy and diseased conditions, and avoiding anti-drug antibody formation through a synthetic approach.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If animal models are used to study ocular pharmacokinetics, then predictive capacity is reduced due to anti-drug antibody formation and anatomical differences, but the cost and time required are extremely high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a synthetic artificial eye assembly that copies the essential anatomical and physiological features of the human eye, including multi-layered structures with flow resistive layers, aqueous humor dynamics, and blood-retina barrier analogs. This synthetic model eliminates the need for animal subjects while maintaining predictive accuracy for human ocular pharmacokinetics
Solution Approach 2:
The artificial eye assembly is divided into distinct functional layers and compartments that can be independently configured and studied. Each layer (flow resistive layer, shaping layer, anterior/posterior chambers) can be optimized separately to replicate specific physiological conditions, enabling targeted pharmacokinetic studies without the complexity of whole animal models
2Measurement precision
If animal models are used to study ocular pharmacokinetics, then predictive capacity is reduced due to anti-drug antibody formation, but the cost required is extremely high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a synthetic artificial eye assembly that copies the essential anatomical and physiological features of the human eye, including multi-layered structures with flow resistive layers, aqueous humor dynamics, and blood-retina barrier analogs. This synthetic model eliminates the need for animal subjects while maintaining predictive accuracy for human ocular pharmacokinetics
Solution Approach 2:
The artificial eye assembly uses synthetic, non-living materials that can be manufactured at low cost and disposed of after single use. The modular design with standard components allows for economical production compared to the expensive and ethically problematic animal model infrastructure required
3Reliability
If intravitreal injections are administered frequently to treat chronic eye diseases, then treatment effectiveness is maintained, but patient burden and procedural risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The artificial eye assembly enables preliminary testing of extended-release formulations and alternative delivery systems in vitro before clinical implementation. Researchers can optimize drug release kinetics and formulation properties to achieve therapeutic efficacy with less frequent dosing, thereby reducing future patient burden
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces repeated mechanical injection procedures with in vitro modeling of sustained-release mechanisms. By studying drug release kinetics in the artificial eye, researchers can develop formulations that provide prolonged therapeutic effect, substituting multiple injection events with a single administration
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables effective study of ocular pharmacokinetics, allowing for the estimation of drug kinetics under various ocular parameters and physiological conditions, reducing the need for frequent intravitreal injections and improving the accuracy of drug formulation development.
Implementation Method 1
a flow resistive layer comprising pores, and wherein pores of the layer are in fluid communication with the second aperture
Implementation Method 2
a flow resistive layer comprising pores, and wherein pores of the layer are in fluid communication with the second aperture
Data Source
AI summary
An artificial eye assembly (100) comprising: —an anterior layer (50) comprising an anterior cavity (52); —a flow constricting (40) layer comprising a first aperture (42), and wherein the first aperture (42) is in fluid communication with the anterior cavity (52); —a shaping layer (30) comprising a second aperture and a shaping structure (32), wherein the shaping structure (32) is located within, partially within, or outside of the second aperture, and wherein the shaping structure comprises (32) one or more webs (33), the webs (33) connecting the structure (32) to the rest of the shaping layer (30), and wherein the second aperture is in fluid communication with the first aperture (42); —a flow resistive layer (20) comprising pores, and wherein pores of the layer are in fluid communication with the second aperture; —a posterior layer (10) comprising a posterior cavity (12), and wherein the posterior cavity (12) is in fluid communication with pores of the flow resistive layer (20); —a fluid inlet (13) located in the anterior and/or posterior cavity (12, 52), or located in or adjacent to the second aperture; —a fluid outlet (54) located in the anterior cavity; and —an injection inlet (14) located in the posterior cavity and/or located in the anterior cavity, and wherein the anterior cavity (52) and the posterior cavity (12) are in fluid communication with one another via a fluid path formed through the layers (10, 20, 30, 40 50); and wherein, in use, a fluid introduced under pressure into the assembly via the fluid inlet (13) will flow along the fluid path and exit the assembly via the fluid outlet (54) with a first flow rate.