Glaucoma Drainage Plate With Coated Channels for Long-Term IOP Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current treatments for glaucoma, such as medications, surgeries, and implants, are inadequate in effectively lowering intraocular pressure (IOP) and maintaining normal eye pressure over the long term, leading to potential vision loss or blindness.
Innovation Solution
A treatment device comprising a plate structure with specific coatings and channels to facilitate the movement of ocular fluids, which can be implanted to reduce intraocular pressure by forming a fluid pathway between the anterior chamber of the eye and the device position, utilizing materials like ceramics and polymers to enhance biocompatibility and fluid flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If current medications and surgeries are used to lower intraocular pressure, then some pressure reduction is achieved, but the treatment is inadequate in sustaining normal eye pressure over many years
Solution Approach 1:
The device segments the pressure reduction function into multiple independent channels (first channel, second channel, third channel) that work simultaneously. Each channel provides a separate fluid pathway, ensuring that if one channel becomes blocked or fails, the others continue to function, thereby achieving reliable long-term pressure control
Solution Approach 2:
The device is implanted with pre-formed fluid channels and coatings already in place before implantation. The hydrophilic coating is pre-applied to facilitate immediate fluid flow, and the channels are pre-configured to establish multiple drainage pathways from the outset, enabling sustained pressure reduction without requiring subsequent adjustments or interventions
2Productivity
If a plate structure with channels is implanted to move ocular fluids, then intraocular pressure is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device utilizes hydraulic principles by creating fluid pathways that allow aqueous humor to flow through the plate structure via pressure gradients. The channels are designed to leverage natural fluid pressure differential to drive flow, eliminating the need for mechanical pumps or complex actuation mechanisms while maintaining high fluid movement efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The plate structure incorporates porous or channelled geometry that provides multiple fluid pathways through the device body. This porous architecture enables efficient fluid transport across the plate while maintaining a relatively simple overall device form factor, as the complexity is distributed at the microstructural level rather than requiring complex macro-scale mechanisms
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
The device effectively reduces intraocular pressure by promoting fluid flow through interconnected channels, thereby alleviating glaucoma symptoms and preventing further optic nerve damage.
Implementation Method 1
The first coating can be a hydrophilic coating, and the second coating can be a hydrophobic coating
Data Source
AI summary
Described herein are devices used to treat high intraocular pressure and glaucoma. An example device includes a plate comprising a first surface opposite a second surface. The first surface includes a series of fluid channels. The device also includes a first coating on the first surface and a second coating on the second surface. The device is configured to lower intraocular pressure by draining aqueous humor from an anterior chamber to subconjunctival space of a patient's eye.