Patent ID: 9155604
Filing Date: 2015-10-13
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
1. A surgical method for attaching an extraocular muscle support sling to a patient to reinforce a weak or ineffective normal extraocular muscle of the patient, wherein said sling includes an anchor base and a pair of flexible elastic arms attached at first ends thereof to respective ends of the anchor base so that opposite free ends of the pair of flexible elastic arms extend outwardly from said anchor base, and wherein the pair of flexible elastic arms are manufactured from a contractile electrically-conductive material, said method comprising the steps of: attaching said anchor base to a movable target tissue adjacent an eye of a patient; exerting a pulling force on the opposite free ends of the pair of flexible elastic arms so that the anchor base and the movable target tissue to which the anchor base is attached are pulled towards an immobile base tissue adjacent the eye of the patient; attaching the opposite free ends of the pair of flexible elastic arms to the immobile base tissue; and providing an electrical stimulus to each of said contractile electrically-conductive arms to cause a current to flow through said arms and said arms to contract to correspondingly generate said pulling force for pulling said anchor base towards the patients immobile base tissue.