The CyPass Micro-Stent is a small medical device used at the time of cataract surgery to lower pressures in patients with glaucoma.
Glaucoma is a medical condition where the pressure inside the eye is too high, leading to progressive optic nerve damage. Open angle glaucoma, the most common form of glaucoma, is essentially a backing-up of fluid due to insufficient outflow through the natural drainage system.
In the eye, there are two distinct drainage systems: the traditional trabecular meshwork, and the uveoscleral pathway. Many of the more potent glaucoma eye drops work to decrease eye pressure by increasing the flow through the uveoscleral pathway.