Iris retraction balloon for phacoemulsifiaction

Abstract

Provided is an inflatable ring device useful for expanding the iris prior to ophthalmic surgery. The ring is either continuous or discontinuous and includes a groove around the outer periphery of the ring. When inflated, the groove engages the inner periphery of the iris and continued inflation thereby expands the iris to a desired size allowing increased access to the eye. The invention also provides a method of expanding the iris prior to performing ophthalmic surgery comprising placing an inflatable ring shaped device in the anterior chamber of the eye. Inflating the inflatable ring shaped device until a groove around the outer periphery of the ring shaped device engages the iris and continued inflation of the ring shaped device continues to expand the iris to a desired size.

1 .- 23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . An iris expansion device comprising:
 an inflatable ring; and   a groove provided in the outer periphery of the inflatable ring, the groove suitable for engaging the inner periphery of an iris muscle;   wherein the ring is inflated and the groove engages the iris, increasing the diameter of the pupil; and   wherein the device is fabricated from rubber, nylon, a plastic, latex, PTFE or combinations thereof.   
     
     
         25 . The iris expansion device of  claim 24  wherein the inflatable ring is discontinuous having a horseshoe shape. 
     
     
         26 . The iris expansion device of  claim 24  further comprising an air-inlet valve. 
     
     
         27 . The iris expansion device of  claim 24  further including one or more positioning loops. 
     
     
         28 . The iris expansion device of  claim 27  wherein one or more of the positioning loops include an eyelet. 
     
     
         29 . The iris expansion device of  claim 24  wherein the groove is approximately ‘V; or ‘U’ shaped. 
     
     
         30 . The device of  claim 24  wherein the device is fabricated from polymers or copolymers of polyamides or polyamides, polyether, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate or other phthalate polyesters or copolyesters thereof. 
     
     
         31 . The device of  claim 26  wherein the valve comprises a Luer taper, an osmotic valve, an electromagnetic valve, a check valve, a pinch valve or a thermal expansion valve. 
     
     
         32 . The device of  claim 24  wherein the device fills by elastic recoil or osmotic diffusion. 
     
     
         33 . A method of expanding an iris comprising:
 deploying an inflatable ring device in the anterior chamber of an eye;   inflating the inflatable ring device;   engaging a groove on the outer periphery of the inflatable ring device with the inner periphery of the iris;   expanding the inflatable ring device as needed   wherein the device is fabricated from rubber, nylon, a plastic, latex, PTFE or combinations thereof.   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33  wherein the inflatable ring device has an air inlet valve. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 33  wherein the inflatable ring device is discontinuous. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35  wherein the discontinuous ring has the shape of a horseshoe. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 33  wherein inflating is achieved using a syringe. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 33  wherein inflating is achieved by an osmotic gradient or by elastic recoil. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 33  wherein engaging further comprises positioning the inflatable ring device using a positioning loop attached to the inflatable ring device. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 33  wherein expanding has a range of from about 4 mm to about 10 mm. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 33  further including removing the inflatable ring device. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 41  wherein removing further includes deflating the inflatable ring device. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 41  wherein deflating is performed by removing air through the air inlet valve.