System for Measuring Intraocular Pressure

• US 20120197101A1
• Filed: 12/17/2008
• Published: 08/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cesar Participacions, S.L
• Original Assignee: Cesar Participacions, S.L
• Inventors: Telandro, Alain
• Granted Patent: US 10,729,323 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/398
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/16 for measuring intraocular pressure, e.g. tonometers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0031 Implanted circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0215 by means inserted into the body catheters A61M25/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02216 Ophthalmodynamometers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02438 with portable devices, e.g. worn by the patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 9/0017 implantable in, or in contact with, the eye, e.g. ocular inserts

Abstract

The invention concerns a system of measuring ocular pressure, consisting of at least one implant (30) including a pressure sensor (33) and an electronic circuit (32), implanted in the cornea of an eye and an antenna (31) connected to the said circuit and implanted in the sub-conjunctival space; and a unit (50) for processing the representative values of the pressure, received by a radio-frequency link from the said electronic circuit (30).

Claims

1. System for measuring ocular pressure, whose characteristics are that it includes:

at least one implant (30), containing a pressure sensor (33) and an electronic circuit (32), implanted in the cornea of an eye and an antenna (31) connected to the aforesaid circuit and implanted in the sub-conjunctival space; and

a unit (50) for the processing of representative values of the pressure, received from the aforementioned implant by a radio-frequency link.

2. System according to claim 1, in which the aforesaid electronic circuit (32) is placed in an intra-corneal cavity (11) outside the pupillary zone, coming out at the surface of the eye by at least one slit (12) and joined by a canal (18) to the sub-conjunctival space for connection to the antenna (31).

3. System according to claim 1, in which the sensor is a differential device sensing a difference in pressure between the atmospheric pressure and the intraocular pressure.

4. System according to claim 3, in which the sensor is place roughly equidistant from the internal and external surfaces of the cornea.

5. System according to any one of the claims 1, in which the pressure sensor has a radio-frequency link.

6. System according to any one of the claims 1, in which unit (50) has the means of remotely supplying the said electronic circuit (32).

7. System according to any one of the claims 1, in which the aforesaid electronic circuit (32) has the means to periodically transmit to the said unit (50) a representative value of the pressure measured.

8. System according to any one of the claims 1, in which the aforesaid unit (50) has the means of comparing the representative values of the pressure with one or several thresholds.

9. System according to claim 8, the aforesaid unit (50) has the means of generating an alarm signal.

10. System according to any one of the claims 1, which also contains data processing equipment (40) capable of communicating with the aforementioned unit (50).

11. System according to any one of the claims 1, in which the aforesaid unit (50) has the means of deducing the arterial pulse from the values of the ocular pressure.

12. System according to any one of the claims 1, in which the electronic circuit (32) and the antenna (31) are covered with a material biologically compatible with the nature of the cornea.

13. System according to claim 2, in which the aforesaid cavity (11) is produced by laser.

14. System according to any one of the claims 1, the system includes two implants (30, 30′

) respectively intended for the two eyes (O, O′

) of a person, the two implants sharing the same processing unit (50).