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Scientists have come up with a smart drainage device that can help patients with glaucoma – one of the leading causes of blindness in the world – to save their sight.
Glaucoma can only be treated with drugs or surgical implants, both of which offer a degree of success in helping to improve eyesight and reduce pressure build-up within the body. l & # 39; eye.
Implantable glaucoma drainage devices have gained popularity in recent years, but only half of the devices are still operational after five years due to the build-up of microorganisms on the device during and after implantation. This problem is known as biological fouling.
"We have created a new drainage device that fights this problem of accumulation by utilizing advances in microtechnology," said Hyowon Lee, an badistant professor at Purdue University in the United States.
"It's able to get rid of harmful bioaccumulation. This is a giant step towards personalized medicine, "said Lee, who led the research team.
The glaucoma drainage device is constructed with microactuators that vibrate when a magnetic field is introduced. The vibrations shake the biomaterials that have accumulated in the tube.
"We can introduce the magnetic field from the outside of the body at any time to essentially refresh the device. Our on-demand technology makes it possible to obtain a more reliable, safe and effective implant for the treatment of glaucoma, "Lee said.
The device can vary the flow resistance, which allows the drainage technology to customize the treatment for each patient at different stages of glaucoma with varying degrees of pressure build-up at the same time. Inside the eye.
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