This is a U.S. national stage of application No. PCT/FR00/01940, filed on Jul. 6, 2000. Priority is claimed on that application and on the following application(s) Country: France, Application No.: 99 08837, Filed: Jul. 8, 1999.
The present invention relates to an intraocular implant of the “square-edged” type.
Intraocular implants are well known. They are essentially constituted by a substantially circular optical portion and by a haptic portion which serves to hold the optical portion inside the eye in such a manner that the optical axis of the optical portion of the implant coincides with the optical axis of the eye. The free ends of the haptic portion bear against the inside wall of the eye in order to develop a resilient return force ensuring that the implant is held in place.
One of the main uses of such intraocular implants consists in putting the implant in the capsular bag after ablation of the lens during a cataract operation.
It is known that cellular proliferation after cataract surgery is the main post-operative complication of that type of surgery. Such cellular proliferation can cause the posterior portion of the capsular bag to become completely opaque. It is then necessary to perform capsulotomy using an ND-Yag laser.
According to data provided by the literature in this matter, the capsulotomy rate can be as high as 50% within 3 years from the operation, in particular with implants made of rigid material of the PMMA type.
Studies conducted in particular by Nishi et al. which are the subject of a publication in the “Journal of Cataract Refract Surgery”, volume 25, April 1999, seem to indicate that it is possible to prevent the cells proliferating on the posterior capsule by means of the edge of the optical portion of the implant acting on the posterior capsule, when the optical portion includes a “square” edge. The term “square edge” has been adopted to define the optical-portion edges having an edge surface which forms an angle of close to 90 degrees (°) relative to the optical surface and which retains a sharp appearance.
In addition, it is known that in intraocular implants, which are now often made in a single piece, the haptic portion is connected to the periphery of the optical portion via a “connection zone”. The term “single-piece implant” refers to an implant made as a single piece, even if the optical and the haptic portions are made of different materials. For the implants on which the above-mentioned studies were based, the haptic portion is constituted by two loops of narrow width such that the connection zones constitute a very small percentage only of the entire periphery of the optical portion. Under such circumstances, it will be understood that the square edge of the optical portion is effective in preventing cells from proliferating on the posterior capsule because the square optical edge is interrupted only in zones of very limited length corresponding to the connection zones. However, such zones do allow cells to proliferate.
It will be understood that the problem is even greater where the connection zone(s) represent a significant percentage of the total length of the periphery of the optical portion. In the connection zone(s), proliferation cannot be prevented since the optical portion does not have square edges. Implants having connection zone(s) that represent a significant fraction of the periphery of the optical portion are becoming more and more common, in particular when single-piece implants are made of a flexible material of the “hydrogel” type or of the “silicone” type. That type of connection zone can also be found in implants made of a rigid material, e.g. of the PMMA type, when the haptic contact portion for contact with the inside wall of the eye is constituted substantially by a ring shape connected to the optical portion by a single substantially radial arm having a width that is necessarily relatively great to ensure a suitable connection between the optical portion and the contact ring of the haptic portion.
It should also be recalled that the surgical practice of putting the implant in place inside the eye is tending to make use of an incision in the cornea that is of smaller and smaller size. When designing intraocular implants, it is therefore necessary to ensure that the overall thickness of the implant remains small so as to enable the implant to be implanted through an incision of small size, with this constraint applying both to the optical portion and to the haptic portion and even to the connection between these two portions. This is particularly, but not exclusively, true of implants having an optical portion that is made of a flexible material enabling the optical portion to be folded on a diameter.
An object of the present invention is to provide an intraocular implant for a capsular bag, the implant being of the square-edged type, thus enabling the proliferation of cells on the posterior capsule to be effectively prevented, in particular in the case where the connection zone(s) for connecting the haptic portion to the optical portion are of significant length, while the thickness of the implant is kept as thin as possible.
To achieve this object, the invention provides an intraocular implant for a capsular bag, which implant comprises an optical portion presenting an anterior optical surface and a posterior optical surface, and at least one haptic element, each haptic element presenting a connection zone at the periphery of the optical portion, said implant being characterized in that:
It will be understood that because of the presence of radial extension(s) at the connection zone(s), which by means of their side walls constitute respective steps resulting from the offset between the posterior optical surface of the optical portion and the connection zone of the haptic element, continuity of the square edge is obtained over the entire periphery of the optical portion. In addition, the fact that the “root(s)” of the haptic portion(s) is/are connected to the anterior face of the extension(s) prevents any increase in the overall thickness of the implant.
In a preferred implementation, the spherical cap, on which are disposed the posterior optical surface of the optical portion and the posterior faces of the step-forming extensions, has a radius lying in the range 11 millimeters (mm) to 13 mm.
The studies performed for developing the present invention have shown that it is this diameter that provides the best contact between the posterior capsule and the posterior optical surface of the implant, thus preventing cells from proliferating. This ensures that the posterior capsule, which is very fine, being about microns (μm) thick, is tensioned in the zone defined by contact with the square edge of the implant. The risks of folds forming in the posterior capsule and thus the risks of cells proliferating along said folds are thus avoided.
Also preferably, the haptic portion(s) form(s) an angle a lying in the range 5° to 12° relative to the optical plane and directed towards the anterior face of the implant.
This tilt tends to press the posterior optical surface of the implant and the posterior face of the step-forming extensions against the posterior capsule.
Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear better on reading the following description of embodiments of the invention given as non-limiting examples. The description refers to the accompanying figures, in which:
With reference firstly to
As already explained, it is easy to provide a square edge for the free zones of the periphery 20 and 22. The embodiment of the invention which enables a square edge to also be obtained in the connection zones 16 and 18, while preventing any increase in the overall thickness of the implant, is described below in more detail, with reference more particularly to
To enable the square edge to be formed in the connection zones 16 and 18, radial extensions 30 and 32 are provided in said connection zones, facing the connection zones, as shown more clearly in
In a preferred embodiment, the diameter D0 is about 5 mm, the diameter D1 is about 6 mm, and the diameter D2 is about 6.5 mm. The length h′ corresponding to the steps in the connection zones is not less than 120 μm and preferably lies in the range 120 μm to 200 μm. As a result, the optical edge of length h is slightly greater than that value.
The studies performed show that said length h′ of the step is sufficient to obtain the desired result, i.e. to prevent cells proliferating on the posterior capsule. Said length h, h′ is linked to the size of cells that are capable of proliferating on the posterior capsule.
This result is further improved due to the fact that the radius R1 preferably lies in the range 11 mm to 13 mm, thereby ensuring the best possible contact with the posterior capsule, thus tensioning said capsule and preventing any risk of folds forming. With the radius of the posterior optical surface defined in this way, the power of the implant is determined by appropriately selecting the radius of the anterior optical surface. This is possible for standard optical powers for an implant.
As shown more clearly in
In this embodiment, the implant is in a single piece and is made of a flexible material. Each haptic element is constituted by two arms connected together at their contact end. The two arms include a common connection zone.
The implant 50 shown in
The implant can be made either of a rigid material such as PMMA, or of a flexible material such as silicone or acrylics. For a flexible material, hydrophobic or hydrophilic pHEMA can be used.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
99 08837 | Jul 1999 | FR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/FR00/01940 | 7/6/2000 | WO | 00 | 12/10/2001 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO01/03610 | 1/18/2001 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
4664666 | Barrett | May 1987 | A |
4738680 | Herman | Apr 1988 | A |
4936850 | Barrett | Jun 1990 | A |
5141507 | Parekh | Aug 1992 | A |
5275624 | Hara et al. | Jan 1994 | A |
5476513 | Brady et al. | Dec 1995 | A |
5713958 | Weiser | Feb 1998 | A |
5928282 | Nigam | Jul 1999 | A |
6468306 | Paul et al. | Oct 2002 | B1 |
6558419 | Pham et al. | May 2003 | B1 |
20030120342 | Green | Jun 2003 | A1 |
20030158599 | Brady et al. | Aug 2003 | A1 |
20030204257 | Southard | Oct 2003 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
1 108 402 | Jun 2001 | DE |
0 391 452 | Aug 1984 | EP |
0 215 468 | Sep 1986 | EP |
0 507 292 | Apr 1992 | EP |
2 668 922 | Nov 1990 | FR |
2773705 | Jul 1999 | FR |
2 819 713 | Jul 2002 | FR |
2821268 | Aug 2002 | FR |
WO 9741805 | Nov 1997 | WO |
WO 9856315 | Dec 1998 | WO |
WO 200189425 | Nov 2001 | WO |