New Smart Device Will Help Save Glaucoma Patients' Vision

Author - Nov 12, 2018

A research team has recently developed a new smart device for treating glaucoma in human eyes, by tackling the biofouling problem.

Glaucoma is among the world’s most common cause of blindness. Now, scientists in Washington, the US, have made a smart drainage device which can save glaucoma patients from going blind.

Glaucoma is a disease which destroys the optic nerve of the eye. It occurs when fluid builds up in the front part of the eye, increasing the pressure inside the eye. The optic consists of over a million nerve fibers, connecting the retina at the back of the eye to the brain. A human needs a healthy optic nerve for good vision.

Currently, we can only treat glaucoma patients with surgical implants and medications, which both have varying success rates in improving sight and relieving pressure built up inside patients’ eyes.

In the last few years, implantable glaucoma drainage devices are becoming more popular. Unfortunately, half the devices fail after five years due to the accumulation for microorganisms on the device during and after the implant surgeries, which is called biofouling.

Hywon Lee, a Purdue University assistant professor, said the new drainage device they developed solves the buildup problems through advanced microtechnology.

Lee, also the team’s leader, said that the device can get rid of the harmful bio-buildup on its own. This creation is likely to bring us a lot closer to personalized medicine.

The new drainage device is equipped with microactuators which vibrate whenever it detects a magnetic field. Thanks to this vibration, biomaterials in the tubes are shaken and loosen.

The new smart drainage device

According to Lee, the magnetic field can be introduced from outside the body whenever it’s needed to make the device vibrate. This new technology provides us with a new implant for glaucoma treatment which is safer, more reliable and efficient.

The device can have different flow resistant levels, letting doctors use this technology to adjust treatment for patients with different glaucoma situations, at various buildup pressure degrees inside their eyes.