Ocular Implant With Undulating Struts For Glaucoma Drainage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current glaucoma treatments fail to effectively manage high intraocular pressure, leading to optic nerve damage and blindness, as they do not adequately facilitate the drainage of aqueous humor from the anterior chamber to Schlemm's canal.
Innovation Solution
An ocular implant with a unique spine and frame structure is designed to be inserted into Schlemm's canal, featuring undulating struts that maintain a constant radius, facilitating the flow of aqueous humor and supporting trabecular meshwork tissue to enhance drainage and reduce intraocular pressure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stress or pressure
If traditional shunts are implanted to direct aqueous humor drainage, then intraocular pressure is reduced, but the device complexity and surgical invasiveness increase
Solution Approach 1:
The ocular implant is divided into multiple functional components including spines, struts, and frames that can be independently configured. This segmentation allows the device to be inserted through a minimally invasive procedure while maintaining complex internal architecture for effective aqueous humor drainage
Solution Approach 2:
The implant utilizes three-dimensional spatial arrangement of undulating struts between spines to create drainage pathways. This dimensional approach allows complex fluid routing without requiring proportionally complex device assembly or invasive implantation procedures
2Productivity
If the ocular implant uses undulating struts with constant radius, then the flow of aqueous humor is facilitated, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The struts feature undulating curved profiles with constant radius, creating smooth surfaces that facilitate aqueous humor flow. These curved geometries can be manufactured using precision techniques such as laser cutting or molding, where the constant radius parameter simplifies the manufacturing process compared to variable radius designs
Solution Approach 2:
The design specifies a constant radius parameter for the strut outer surface, which simplifies manufacturing by maintaining uniform cross-sectional dimensions. This parameter control allows standardization of the undulating profile while ensuring consistent hydraulic performance across production batches
3Productivity
If the ocular implant supports trabecular meshwork tissue, then drainage enhancement is achieved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The ocular implant performs multiple functions simultaneously: the spines and struts provide structural support for trabecular meshwork tissue, while the framed structures create drainage pathways. This multi-functionality is achieved through a unified device architecture rather than separate components, reducing overall system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The implant combines tissue support functions and fluid drainage functions into a single integrated structure. The spines and struts that provide mechanical support also define the drainage channels, merging structural and hydraulic functions without requiring additional separate components
Data Source
AI summary
An ocular implant having a first spine; a second spine; a first strut extending in an axial direction Z between the first spine and the second spine; a second strut extending in an axial direction Z between the first spine and the second spine; wherein an angular dimension θ of a first edge of each strut undulates as the strut extends in the axial direction Z between the first spine and the second spine; and wherein a radius r of an outer surface of each strut remains substantially constant as the strut extends the axial direction Z between the first spine and the second spine.