Cranfield University D J Howorth Feasibility Study for a Micromachined Glaucoma Drainage Device School of Industrial and Manufacturing Science Msc Thesis

Current treatments for glaucoma are not fully satisfactory. This thesis examines the possibility of improving one of those treatments – the use of a drain in the eye. The goal of the thesis is to increase the likelihood that improved treatments for glaucoma become available at an early date by the use of microsystems engineering. Glaucoma is a serious and common disease of the eye, most often caused by raised pressure within the eye. It is usually treated by drugs or surgery but sometimes these treatments cannot be used and various artificial drainage implants are then used to relieve the overpressure, but with limited success. This thesis is in the nature of a feasibility study, exploring the design space for glaucoma drainage devices in order to identify opportunities to advance the state of the art by applying microsystems technology. The document contains a summary of the medical background and reviews of intraocular pressure sensors and current drainage devices. It considers the requirements and issues facing an improved device and proposes the use of a micromachined, pressure-controlled active valve within a drainage device. It examines in detail possible actuators for the valve and the means to power it.