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Titratable Gold Micro-Shunt implanted in first human eyes

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SAO PAULO, Brazil — An adjustable glaucoma drainage shunt has been implanted in three human eyes, according to its developer. The device, the DeepLight Gold Micro-Shunt from Solx, has been in development for several years, and these are the first human implantations, said Gabriel Simon, MD, PhD.

In an interview with Ocular Surgery News here at the World Ophthalmology Congress, Dr. Simon said he had implanted the first three human patients with a redesigned version of the titratable device within the past 2 weeks.

According to Dr. Simon, these cases constitute the first “artificial trabeculectomies.”

The shunt is inserted into the anterior chamber and the suprachoroidal space through a 2-mm incision. The device is 40 µm thick and contains 12 “windows,” which can be opened or closed with a titanium-sapphire laser also developed by Solx as part of the DeepLight system.

Dr. Simon said that, after implantation of the shunt, IOP was reduced by 10 mm Hg in all three eyes, with a resultant flow rate of 8 mL per minute. When he opened a third window in the shunts using the laser, an additional drop of 3 mm Hg occurred in all three eyes, Dr. Simon said.

All three eyes ended up with IOPs of 14 mm Hg, Dr. Simon said.

“This device duplicates the action of a prostaglandin in a device,” he said.

The DeepLight Gold Micro-Shunt is expected to be launched in about 5 months, first in Europe, followed by Canada and the United States, according to Doug Adams, chief executive officer of Solx.