Enabling Technology for Microvascular Stenting in Ophthalmic Surgery

Microstenting is a potentially revolutionary approach to surgical treatment of microvascular retinal disorders that do not resolve using pharmaceutical treatment. This article presents a novel device called a stent deployment unit (SDU) that aims at enabling microstent placement in ophthalmic surgery. The clinical motivation for this work is highlighted in context of microvascular retinal surgery. The proposed SDU is designed for intraocular adjustment of the approach angle and the position of the stent with respect to the retina. The feasibility of this device is experimentally evaluated on chick chorioallantoic membranes and on agar vascular models. Experiments show dependency on the approach angle with respect to the vasculature and on the mobility of the vasculature. Successful placement of stents was achieved in both experimental media. To the best of our knowledge, this pioneering work is the first to demonstrate successful stent deployment in a scale suitable for retinal surgery. We believe that this technique has the promise of enabling effective vascular treatments for blinding conditions such as central and branch retinal vein occlusion.