Transforming surgery

Glaucoma is caused by the build-up of fluid in the eye, aqueous humor. This causes the IntraOcular Pressure (IOP) to increase, which damages the optic nerve and leads to vision loss. Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness for people over the age of 60.

The last decade has seen a lot of progress in glaucoma surgery. In most cases, new developments have enabled the possibility of escaping the drawbacks of trabeculectomy, the ‘Gold Standard’ surgical technique. Yet, these advances usually require a trade-off, at the expense of obtaining a lower IOP reduction or not sustaining it over time.

The market is now anticipating a technology that delivers strong IOP reduction with a simple surgical act and without compromising safety. Importantly, this means no bleb, no hypotonies, no antimetabolites and no risk of corneal Endothelial Cell Loss (ECL).

CID offers strong IOP reduction and safety ‘by design’

CID (Cilio-scleral Inter-positioning Device) provides strong IOP reduction (alongside pharmacological treatments for reduction).
It offers distinct surgical advantages in:

How to perform a CID surgery, an ab externo implantation

In CID, a surgeon only needs to make two full thickness scleral incisions, then pull the device below the sclera, adjust its position in contact with the iris root, and following that, suture tight the incisions to avoid conjunctival filtration. The conjunctiva is spared. It is incised only locally on top of the scleral incisions.

After completing the penetrating scleral incisions (maximum 2.5 mm long) and injecting a small amount of viscoelastic to separate the sclera from the ciliary body, the surgeon only needs to grasp the implant on one-side and to pull it totally below the sclera. To ensure proper placement, a spatula over the implant’s superior face gently checks contact with the ciliary muscle insertion. The incisions are then sutured watertight.