Granted Patent B2

US 12,551,268 · App. 17/625,630 · Granted Feb 17, 2026

Inventors: Richard Lilly (San Jose, CA); Claudio Argento (Fulton, CA); Alice Yang (Campbell, CA); Katherine Sapozhnikov (Campbell, CA)

Assignee: Shifamed Holdings, LLC

A61B18/1477A61F9/0008A61F9/00781A61F9/00821A61B2018/00321A61B2018/00595A61B2018/1407A61B2018/1475A61F2009/00868A61F2009/00891

Abstract

Claims (16)

1 . A method of forming a bleb in the treatment of ocular hypertension or glaucoma, the method comprising:

inserting an introducer sheath into an eye of a human patient such that a distal end of the introducer sheath is adjacent a target tissue of the patient, wherein the introducer sheath includes a lumen extending longitudinally therethrough;

deploying a wire through the lumen to contact the target tissue,

wherein the wire includes a first end segment, a second end segment, and an intermediate segment between the first end segment and the second end segment, and wherein (a) at least a portion of the first end segment and a portion of the second end segment are in the lumen, and (b) at least a portion of the intermediate segment extends through the distal end aperture to form a wire loop in contact with the target tissue;

moving the wire loop laterally relative to the introducer sheath to mechanically disrupt tissue in the target tissue to form the bleb;

after mechanically disrupting the tissue, expanding the wire loop; and

delivering electrical current to the disrupted tissue via the expanded wire loop to cauterize the disrupted target tissue.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein disrupting the tissue comprises applying a pulling force on the first end segment and/or the second end segment of the wire.

3 . The method of claim 2 wherein pulling the first end segment moves the wire loop laterally in a first direction, and wherein pulling the second end segment moves the wire loop laterally in a second direction.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein the lumen has a proximal end aperture, and wherein the first end segment and the second end segment of the wire extend through the proximal end aperture.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the wire loop is in electrical communication with an energy generator positioned external to the patient.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the first end segment and the second end segment are insulated.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising treating the cauterized tissue with an anti-scarring agent.

8 . The method of claim 7 wherein the anti-scarring agent is inserted into the bleb through the lumen.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising flushing the bleb with saline after disrupting the tissue.

10 . The method of claim 1 wherein the target tissue is a subconjunctival space within the eye of the patient.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (290)