Fibrosis-free Glaucoma Surgical Devices

This project is in collaboration with Dr. Ying Han in the department of Ophthalmology at UCSF. Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world. To date, controlling intraocular pressure (IOP) remains the primary treatment option. Glaucoma drainage implants (GDI) were developed to treat patients with secondary glaucoma, pediatric glaucoma and refractory glaucoma. However, the long-term outcome of GDIs has not been satisfactory, largely due to fibrous encapsulation around the implant. In this project, we take a novel glaucoma surgical device concept based on a microfluidic meshwork, which was recently developed and tested by the Xie laboratory.