Patent ID: 8801649

Claim:
A method of implanting an ocular device into an eye, comprising: inserting a shunt through an incision in a cornea and into an anterior chamber of the eye, the shunt removably attached to a delivery instrument and having a proximal end, a distal end and a fluid passageway extending between the proximal end and the distal end, wherein the shunt has a bend such that the proximal end is oriented along a first axis and the distal end is oriented along a second axis and wherein the first and second axes are non-parallel, the delivery instrument defining a longitudinal axis and comprising: (a) a hand-held component; (b) an elongated applier operatively coupled to the hand-held component, the elongated applier comprising a proximal region aligned with the longitudinal axis and a distal region, the distal region being curved away from the longitudinal axis during introduction of the ocular implant into the anterior chamber; and (c) a deployment structure having a proximal end coupled to the hand-held component and a distal end positioned around the elongated applier proximal of the ocular implant when the ocular implant is removably attached to the delivery instrument; passing the shunt from the anterior chamber past the scleral spur near the ciliary body of the eye towards the supraciliary space; and positioning the shunt in a first position such that the proximal end of the shunt and a first portion of the fluid passageway is in the anterior chamber, and a second portion of the fluid passageway communicates directly with the supraciliary space to provide a fluid passageway between the supraciliary space and the anterior chamber, and such that the bend is positioned so that the proximal end of the implant orients away from an interior surface of the cornea, wherein positioning the shunt comprises actuating an actuator on the hand-held component of the delivery instrument to move the elongated applier of the delivery instrument in a proximal direction out of the shunt while the shunt remains fixed relative to a portion of the delivery instrument so to release the elongated applier from the shunt, wherein the distal region of the elongated applier withdraws into the deployment structure and conforms to the longitudinal axis of the delivery instrument as the distal region withdraws into the distal end of the deployment structure.