Puppy dog eyes

April 23, 2009 by MassDevice

Brandie Jefferson, MassDevice staff

Medical devices aren't just for people. Dogs get glaucoma, too. And, just as in humans, it causes great pain and can lead to blindness.

Glaucoma is a condition in which fluid builds up inside the eyeball, creating pressure that eventually damages the optic nerve.

Fortunately, Healionics has a way to help pups in pain,on display at the 2009 BioMEDevice conference here in Boston.

It’s a tiny piece of material — about 1 cm by ½ cm — made from implantable-grade silicone rubber. The device is surgically inserted into the eye, under the sclera, to provide a pathway for excess fluid to drain.

The material is also designed to keep the body from attacking it as a foreign substance.

The first commercial shipment of the Redmond, Wash.-based company's TR-ClarifyEYE implant was delivered last month to Arizona–based TR BioSurgical LLC.

Healionics CEO and co-founder Michel Alvarez told MassDevice that the company has signed a multi-year, multimillion-dollar deal with TR BioSurgical and has 20 commercial agreements for products being evaluated for human use.

The glaucoma device is the privately-owned company’s only commercial product — not bad for a company founded in March 2007. Alvarez says the firm has made progress on a variety of applications, including a glucose sensor, obesity treatments and aesthetic treatments.

Permalink