Patent ID: 9603741
Date: 2017-03-28
CPC Classifications: A61F

Claim:
1. A method, of maintaining an opening in a trabecular meshwork of a patient's eye to conduct fluid from an anterior chamber to Schlemm's canal of the eye, comprising: positioning an intraocular implant through an opening in the trabecular meshwork of the eye, the implant having a proximal portion configured to reside in the anterior chamber of the eye, a distal portion configured to reside in Schlemm's canal of the eye, a middle portion having an outer cross-sectional dimension that is less than a cross-sectional dimension of the distal portion and a cross-sectional dimension of the proximal portion, and a passageway extending from a proximal end of the implant to a distal end of the implant, the middle portion dimensioned to extend across the inner wall of Schlemm's canal and the trabecular meshwork, the distal portion comprising a contact surface to contact an inner wall of Schlemm's canal, the distal portion configured to substantially inhibit contact with the outer wall of Schlemm's canal when the contact surface of the distal portion engages the inner wall of Schlemm's canal and self-retains the implant with the inner wall of Schlemm's canal; and wherein fluid is conducted through the passageway from an opening on the proximal portion of the implant to an opening on the distal portion of the implant, such that fluid flows from the anterior chamber into Schlemm's canal through the implant.