부산대학교 도서관

Glaucoma is an optic neuropathy caused by increasing pressure inside the eye. The high intraocular pressure (IOP) results in the degradation of optic nerves leading to visual field defect and ultimate blindness. Implantation of a drainage device is one of the invasive approaches to decrease the IOP. While the various glaucoma drainage devices currently under development offer some merits, they also have drawbacks such as thick and hard bodies. This study aims to develop a new soft glaucoma implant device having a sheet-like thin body by using microfluidic technologies. We used the conventional fabrication processes of photolithography and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) replica molding to make the implant device. First, we integrated a microchannel and a membrane to form a passive microvalve. And then, we evaluated the opening threshold pressure of the microvalve and compared different sizes of microvalves with each other. The results showed that the microvalve could open at a certain pressure, and the potential to realize an implant device that regulates the pressure for the treatment of glaucoma was confirmed. Comparing to the existing devices in the market, our device can provide the advantage of mitigating patient′s discomfort after implantation.