US 12,274,643 B2
Apparatus for treating excess intraocular fluid having an elastic membrane
Nikolaos Stergiopulos, Preverenges (CH); and Constantinos Stergiopulos, Lausanne (CH)
Assigned to Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne (CH)
Filed by Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne (CH)
Filed on May 23, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/672,827.
Application 18/672,827 is a continuation of application No. 17/271,157, granted, now 12,005,000, issued on Jun. 11, 2024, previously published as PCT/IB2019/057509, filed on Sep. 6, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/728,022, filed on Sep. 6, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2024/0307226 A1, Sep. 19, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61F 9/007 (2006.01)
CPC A61F 9/00781 (2013.01) 22 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for treating excess fluid pressure within an eye, the method comprising:
implanting an implantable device under a conjunctiva of the eye, such that a first end of the implantable device is in fluid communication with an anterior chamber of the eye and a second end of the implantable device is in fluid communication with a space beneath tissue of the eye, the implantable device comprising a cavity having a circular-shaped cross-section, an elastic membrane disposed within the cavity to define a fluidic channel between the first and second ends, and a local constriction disposed within the fluidic channel, coaxial with the cavity to reduce an area of the fluidic channel,
wherein the elastic membrane is configured to deform, responsive to pressure fluctuations between the first and second ends, to change a volume of the fluidic channel to vary fluidic resistance of fluid flowing from the first end, across one or more grooves disposed on an outer surface of the local constriction, to the second end to thereby maintain pressure at the first end relatively constant.