In vivo intraocular pressure measurements using a miniaturized nanophotonics-enhanced sensor implant

Glaucoma is the leading causes of blindness, affecting an estimated 70 million individuals in the world. Because an elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) has been identified as a major risk factor, current therapies are aimed at lowering eye pressure. Consequently, monitoring of IOP is the most important tool in diagnosis and management of glaucoma. However current pressure measurement approaches have many challenges: measurements are obtained at the doctor's office only every few months, and it is difficult to develop more effective, custom-tailored optimal disease management for individual patients. To address this challenge, a number of efforts have been made to develop implantable IOP sensors based on electrical readout methods, yet further miniaturization, improved readout distance, and signal-tonoise ratio (SNR) are still desired. In this presentation, I will present a compact, implantable nanophotonic pressure sensor with remote optical readout. The sensor has provided robust measurements of hydrostatic pressure between 0–40mmHg and performed well on table top characterizations, ex-vivo, and in-vivo measurements. Sensor design, fabrication, & characterizations; implantation preparation and procedures, and short-term & long-term in-vivo monitoring will be discussed.