Glaucoma valve, a casing for containing a glaucoma valve, and a glaucoma drainage device comprising the valve and/or the casing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10548769-B2
Application number	US-201113816631-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 12, 2011
Priority date	Aug 12, 2010
Publication date	Feb 4, 2020
Grant date	Feb 4, 2020

Abstract

Provided is a glaucoma valve, a casing for containing a glaucoma valve and a glaucoma drainage device including the glaucoma valve and/or the casing. The valve includes a flow channel having an inlet and an outlet and a valve member connected to the outlet of the flow channel. The valve member may be formed from a degradable polymer or a combination of degradable polymer and non-degradable polymer. The valve may have a first flow channel, the interior of which may be coated with a degradable polymer, such that in use, the polymer degrades to allow a greater flow of fluid through the flow channel. The valve may include a second flow channel, which may be arranged in parallel to the first flow channel. The casing may be formed from a degradable polymer, such as a biodegradable polymer.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A glaucoma valve, the valve comprising
a) a flow channel having an inlet and an outlet; and
b) a valve member connected to the outlet of the flow channel, wherein the valve member comprises a degradable polymer and a steroid, wherein the valve member is adapted to start degradation when a fibrous capsule is developing around the valve, wherein the steroid is mixed with the degradable polymer to form the valve member, and wherein the degradable polymer is configured to degrade during formation of the fibrous capsule so as to release the steroid in therapeutic levels concurrently with degradation of the degradable polymer.

2. The glaucoma valve according to claim 1 , wherein the polymer is a biodegradable elastomer.

3. The glaucoma valve according to claim 2 , wherein the biodegradable elastomer is selected from the group consisting of polylactic acid (PLA), polycaprolactone (PCL), poly(glycolide) (PLGA), a copolymer of PLA and PCL, a copolymer of PLA, PCL and PLGA, a copolymer of PLA, PCL and trimethylene carbonate (TMC), a copolymer of PLA, PCL, TMC and polyurethane (PU).

4. The glaucoma valve according to claim 3 , wherein the copolymer of PLA and PCL has a molar ratio of about 7:3.

5. The glaucoma valve according to claim 3 , wherein the copolymer of PLA and PCL is selected from the group consisting of a multiblock copolymer of PLA and PCL, and a triblock copolymer of PLA and PCL having PLA as the end-blocks and PCL as the middle block.

6. The glaucoma valve according to claim 5 , wherein the PLA end-blocks of the triblock copolymer of PLA and PCL has a crystallinity of about 10% to about 20%.

7. The glaucoma valve according to claim 3 , wherein the copolymer of PLA, PCL and PLGA is a triblock copolymer having PLA as the end-blocks and a random copolymer of PCL and PLGA as the middle block.

8. The glaucoma valve according to claim 3 , wherein the copolymer of PLA, PCL and TMC is a triblock copolymer having PLA as the end-blocks and a random copolymer of PCL and TMC as the middle block.

9. The glaucoma valve according to claim 8 , wherein the PLA end-blocks of the triblock copolymer of PLA, PCL and TMC has a crystallinity of about 10% to about 20%.

10. The glaucoma valve according to claim 3 , wherein the copolymer of PLA, PCL, TMC and PU is a polyurethane with PCL/PLA and PCL/TMC soft segments.

11. The glaucoma valve according to claim 6 , wherein the polymer has a Young's modulus of about 1 MPa to about 30 MPa.

12. The glaucoma valve according to claim 6 , wherein the polymer has an elongation to break percentage of greater than about 100%.

13. The glaucoma valve according to claim 6 , wherein the polymer has an elastic recovery value of greater than about 80%.

14. The glaucoma valve according to claim 6 , wherein the steroid is selected from the group consisting of dexamethasone, fluocinolone, fluocinolone acetonide, triamcinolone, triamcinolone acetonide, salts thereof, derivatives thereof, and mixtures thereof.

15. A glaucoma valve, the valve comprising a first flow channel, wherein the valve is adapted to start degradation when a fibrous capsule is developing around the valve, wherein the interior of the flow channel is at least in part coated with a degradable polymer comprising a steroid, wherein the steroid is mixed with the degradable polymer, such that in use, the polymer degrades during formation of the fibrous capsule to allow a greater flow of fluid and release of the steroid through the flow channel in therapeutic levels concurrently with degradation of the degradable polymer.

16. The glaucoma valve according to claim 15 , wherein the polymer is a biodegradable polymer selected from the group consisting of polylactic acid (PLA), polycaprolactone (PCL), poly(glycolide) (PLGA), a copolymer of PLA and PCL, a copolymer of PLA, PCL and PLGA, a copolymer of PLA, PCL and trimethylene carbonate (TMC), and a copolymer of PLA, PCL, TMC and polyurethane (PU).

17. The glaucoma valve according to claim 15 , further comprising a second flow channel, wherein the second flow channel is arranged in parallel or connected in parallel to the first flow channel.

18. The glaucoma valve according to claim 17 , wherein the first flow channel is completely sealed with the polymer, such that in use, the polymer degrades to allow fluid to flow through the first flow channel.

19. A casing for containing a glaucoma valve, wherein the valve comprises
a) a flow channel having an inlet and an outlet; and
b) a valve member connected to the outlet of the flow channel, wherein the valve is adapted to start degradation when a fibrous capsule is developing around the valve, wherein the valve member comprises a degradable polymer and a steroid, wherein the steroid is mixed with the degradable polymer to form the valve member, and wherein the degradable polymer is configured to degrade during formation of the fibrous capsule so as to release the steroid in therapeutic levels concurrently with degradation of the degradable polymer;
the casing comprising
a) a top portion, and
b) a bottom portion,
wherein either or both the top portion and the bottom portion is formed from a biodegradable polymer.

Assignees

• Venkatraman Subramanian
• Shang Lei
• Boey Yin Chiang Freddy
• Wong Tina
• Univ Nanyang Tech
• Singapore Health Serv Pte Ltd

Inventors

• Venkatraman Subramanian
• Shang Lei
• Boey Yin Chiang Freddy
• Wong Tina

Classifications

• A61F2210/0004

  bioabsorbable · CPC title

• A61F9/00781 Primary

  Apparatus for modifying intraocular pressure, e.g. for glaucoma treatment (drainage implants in general A61M27/002) · CPC title