# US 2016/0256318 A1 · Intraocular shunt placement in the suprachoroidal space > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2016/0256318 A1 - Document ID: US20160256318A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/153,646 - Filed: 2016-05-12 - Published: 2016-09-08 - Earliest claimed: 2010-11-15 - Assignees: AqueSys, Inc. - Applicants: AqueSys, Inc. - Inventors: Christopher HORVATH; Ronald D. BACHE; Laszlo O. ROMODA; Guenther GRABNER; Herbert A. REITSAMER; John R. SAMPLES - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20160256318A1 ## CPC - A61F 9/00781: {Apparatus for modifying intraocular pressure, e.g. for glaucoma treatment (drainage implants in general A61M27/002)} - A61B 17/3415: {for introducing tubes or catheters, e.g. gastrostomy tubes, drain catheters (A61B17/3417 takes precedence; body piercing catheter guide needles A61M25/06)} - A61B 17/3468: {for implanting or removing devices, e.g. prostheses, implants, seeds, wires (devices for implanting seeds A61M37/0069)} - A61B 17/3417: {Details of tips or shafts, e.g. grooves, expandable, bendable; Multiple coaxial sliding cannulas, e.g. for dilating (syringe needles A61M5/32; dilators A61M29/00)} - A61F 9/0008: {Introducing ophthalmic products into the ocular cavity or retaining products therein (putting in contact lenses A61F9/0061; introducing or retaining media in cavities of the body in general A61M31/00)} - A61F 9/0017: {implantable in, or in contact with, the eye, e.g. ocular inserts} - A61F 9/007: Methods or devices for eye surgery - A61M 27/002: {Implant devices for drainage of body fluids from one part of the body to another (intraocular A61F9/00781; middle ear A61F11/202)} - A61F: FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS (dental prosthetics A61C) - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - A61M: DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY (introducing media into or onto the bodies of animals A61D7/00; means for inserting tampons A61F13/26; devices for administering food or medicines orally A61J; containers for collecting, storing or administering blood or medical fluids A61J1/05); DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY (surgery A61B; chemical aspects of surgical articles A61L); DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR {(Electrotherapy, e.g. producing anaesthesia by the use of alternating or intermittent currents A61N1/36021)} ## Abstract Glaucoma can be treated by implanting an intraocular shunt into the eye. Such procedures can employ various deployment devices, shunts, and implantation techniques. A method for treating glaucoma can include positioning an intraocular shunt in eye tissue such that the shunt conducts fluid from the anterior chamber to the suprachoroidal space and delivers a pharmaceutical or biological agent to the eye. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of deploying an intraocular shunt into an eye, the method comprising: inserting into the eye a hollow shaft, having a curved configuration and a less curved configuration, less curved than the curved configuration, and holding an intraocular shunt, the shunt comprising a pharmaceutical or biological agent deliverable to the eye; exposing the shunt, out of the shaft along a scleral spur of the eye while the shaft is in the curved configuration along the scleral spur such that the shunt forms a passage with a proximal portion of the shunt residing in an anterior chamber of the eye and a distal portion of the shunt residing in a suprachoroidal space of the eye; and withdrawing the shaft, in the less curved configuration, from the eye. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the exposing comprises allowing the shunt to be guided along the scleral spur of the eye. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the eye comprises a cornea, and the inserting comprises inserting the hollow shaft through the cornea. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the eye comprises a corneal limbus, and the inserting comprises inserting the shaft into the eye posterior to the corneal limbus. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein inserting the hollow shaft comprises moving at least a portion of the shaft out of a hollow sleeve, such that the hollow shaft changes from the less curved configuration in the sleeve to the curved configuration out of the sleeve. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein inserting the hollow shaft comprises forming a curved pathway along a scleral spur. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein during the withdrawing, the shaft is withdrawn into a hollow sleeve and changes from the curved configuration to the less curved configuration. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the pharmaceutical or biological agent comprises a coating on a surface of the shunt. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the pharmaceutical or biological agent comprises a coating on an exterior surface of the shunt. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the pharmaceutical or biological agent comprises a coating on an interior surface of the shunt. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein a portion of the shunt is impregnated with the pharmaceutical or biological agent. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the pharmaceutical or biological agent comprises a time-release pharmaceutical or biological agent. ### Claim 13 A method of deploying an intraocular shunt into an eye, the method comprising: inserting into the eye a hollow shaft, having a curved configuration and a less curved configuration, less curved than the curved configuration, and holding an intraocular shunt, the shunt comprising a pharmaceutical or biological agent deliverable to the eye; exposing the shunt out of the shaft, while the shaft is in the curved configuration, such that the shunt forms a curved passage with a proximal portion of shunt residing in an anterior chamber of the eye and a distal portion of the shunt residing in a suprachoroidal space of the eye; and withdrawing the shaft, in the less curved configuration, from the eye. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the eye comprises a cornea, and the inserting comprises inserting the hollow shaft through the cornea. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the eye comprises a corneal limbus, and the inserting comprises inserting the shaft into the eye posterior to the corneal limbus. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein inserting the hollow shaft comprises moving at least a portion of the shaft out of a hollow sleeve, such that the hollow shaft changes from the less curved configuration in the sleeve to the curved configuration out of the sleeve. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein inserting the hollow shaft comprises forming a curved pathway along a scleral spur. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein during the withdrawing, the shaft is withdrawn into a hollow sleeve and changes from the curved configuration to the less curved configuration. ### Claim 19 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the pharmaceutical or biological agent comprises a coating on a surface of the shunt. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, wherein the pharmaceutical or biological agent comprises a coating on an exterior surface of the shunt. ### Claim 21 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, wherein the pharmaceutical or biological agent comprises a coating on an interior surface of the shunt. ### Claim 22 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein a portion of the shunt is impregnated with the pharmaceutical or biological agent. ### Claim 23 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the pharmaceutical or biological agent comprises a time-release pharmaceutical or biological agent.