Devices and techniques for treating glaucoma
A system for non-invasive treatment of a patient's trabecular meshwork to treat primary open-angle glaucoma. The system and technique applies energy directly to media within clogged spaces in a patient's trabecular meshwork to increase aqueous outflow facility by (i) localization of microimplantable bodies carrying a selected exogenous chromophore, such as particles with a gold surface, in deeper regions of the trabecular meshwork, and (ii) irradiation of the microimplantables with a selected coherent wavelength having a power level and pulse duration that is strongly absorbed by the surfaces of the microimplantables.
1. A method for treating trabecular meshwork regions of a human eye, comprising the steps of:
(a) localizing a volume of particles carrying a selected chrontiophore within spaces of the meshwork;
(b) irradiating the particles with a beam of photonic energy having a wavelength, power, and pulse duration that is absorbed by the selected chromophore;
(c) wherein the chromophore comprises gold within the surface layer of said particles thereby applying energy to the irradiated region of the meshwork.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the irradiating step causes a thermal effect within the irradiated region of the meshwork.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the irradiating step causes a cavitation effect within the irradiated region of the meshwork.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein said cavitation delivers mechanical energy to a media within the meshwork.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the particles have an average diameter of less than about 500 nm.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the particles have an average diameter less than about 200 nm.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the irradiating step utilizes a wavelength domain ranging from about 380 nm to 820 nm.
8. A method for applying energy to a patient's trabecular meshwork, comprising the steps of:
(a) localizing microimplantables with a gold surface within spaces of the meshwork;
(b) non-invasively irradiating the meshwork region with coherent light pulses having a wavelength between 380 nm and 820 nm;
(c) wherein the power level, pulse, and pulse interval are selected to cause the microimplantables to absorb energy and thereby apply energy to surrounding media.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein said irradiating step causes thermal effecis in said media.
10. The method of claim 8 wherein said irradiating step cause acoustic effects in said media.
11. The method according to claim 8 wherein said irradiating step does not ablate cells of the meshwork.