Glaucoma Treatment With Ocular Vasodilators for Optic Nerve Perfusion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current treatments for glaucoma primarily focus on managing symptoms and preventing further damage, but there is a need for a treatment that can prevent, treat, or reverse the underlying causes of glaucoma by increasing capillary network and blood supply to the eye, particularly the optic nerve and retina.
Innovation Solution
Administering calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors, or angiotensin receptor blockers directly to the intravitreal space of the eye to increase or grow the capillary network and augment blood supply, thereby treating or preventing glaucoma.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional glaucoma treatments are used to manage symptoms and prevent further damage, then optic nerve damage is prevented from worsening, but the underlying cause of glaucoma is not addressed and blood supply to the optic nerve remains insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of treating glaucoma by reducing intraocular pressure (conventional approach), this patent inverts the treatment strategy by focusing on increasing blood supply to the optic nerve through vasodilators. The invention addresses the underlying cause by improving perfusion rather than merely managing symptoms, thereby potentially reversing damage rather than just preventing worsening.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physiological parameter targeted for treatment from intraocular pressure to blood flow perfusion. By administering vasodilators that increase capillary blood supply and improve perfusion to the optic nerve, the treatment addresses the root cause of glaucoma-related damage rather than just the pressure symptom.
2Use of energy by moving object
If calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors, or angiotensin receptor blockers are administered to increase capillary network and blood supply, then blood flow to the optic nerve is improved, but the administration route and dosing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses vasodilators (calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors, or angiotensin receptor blockers) as intermediary substances to achieve the desired effect of increased blood supply to the optic nerve. These medications act as mediators that dilate blood vessels and improve perfusion, providing a pharmacological bridge between the administration route and the therapeutic effect on ocular blood flow.
3Stress or pressure
If traditional glaucoma treatments focus on pressure management, then intraocular pressure is controlled, but tissue repair and regeneration are not promoted
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than continuing to focus solely on pressure management, this patent inverts the therapeutic approach by emphasizing blood supply improvement and tissue perfusion. By increasing capillary network density and blood flow to the optic nerve, the treatment promotes active tissue repair and regeneration rather than merely preventing pressure-related damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent shifts the therapeutic parameter from pressure control to perfusion enhancement. By administering vasodilators that improve blood flow and increase capillary density, the treatment creates conditions favorable for tissue repair and regeneration, addressing the underlying vascular insufficiency that conventional pressure management overlooks.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods are provided to prevent and to treat glaucoma by using Calcium channel blockers, Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) Inhibitors, or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB), and more particularly, to a method to prevent and treat glaucoma by using calcium channel blockers, Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors, or angiotensin receptor blockers that may not need to be taken orally, but may also be administered by ophthalmic preparation directly onto or into the eye where glaucoma is formed, to increase or grow the capillary network and augment the blood supply to the anatomy of the eye.