iStent® – The world’s smallest medical device

• Posted on: Apr 21 2016
• By: Jim Wiegand

Technology has always been at the forefront of maintaining vision or improving eye health. From the earliest bifocals to LASIK, technology aids in our ability to see the world around us.

Now, advancements in technology have come to those in need of cataract surgery who also suffer from mild-to-moderate open-angle glaucoma. That technology is iStent®.

iStent is the world’s smallest medical device and works like stents used to prevent heart attacks and strokes. But this tiny device is different; it works in the eye to improve the flow of aqueous (eye fluid) out of the eye to reduce dangerous eye pressures.

For those who suffer from glaucoma, the eye’s natural drainage system becomes clogged, which results in increased pressure within the eye. These high pressures affect the delicate optic nerve, and any damage to it will lead to permanent vision loss.

iStent is currently only approved to be implanted during cataract surgery – when an artificial lens is surgically implanted in place of a clouded natural one. Once the new artificial lens is in place, iStent is gently placed into the trabecular meshwork area of the eye through the same incision as the lens implant.

Your new lens implant and iStent offer improved vision and reduced eye pressure in an all-in-one procedure. There are many benefits to both procedures being performed in one surgery such as cost, reduced dependence on medications and only one recovery period.

Even though iStent is tiny in stature (1mm long, .3mm high), it provides huge results:
In a U.S. clinical study*, 68% of patients who received iStent remained medication-free after 12 months, while sustaining a target IOP of ≤21 mm Hg vs. only 50% of patients who underwent cataract surgery alone.

If you are facing cataract surgery and suffer from mild-to-moderate open-angle glaucoma, call Tower Clock Eye Center at 920 499-3102 to schedule an appointment to see if a procedure with iStent is right for you.

(*iStent Trabecular Micro-Bypass Stent: Directions for Use, Part # 45-0074. Laguna Hills, Calif: Glaukos Corporation.)

Tagged with: blog, cataract surgery, Eye disease, eye problems, eye surgeon, glaucoma, ophthalmologist, Tower Clock Eye Center, Tower Clock Surgery Center

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