A new sponge profile for retinal detachment surgery: design and in vitro-effectiveness

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Surgical Devices

Background:

• Episcleral sponges are used to create ocular indentation for retinal detachment repair.
• Conventional sponge designs can lead to form-related side effects due to their shape.
• Optimizing sponge geometry is crucial for balancing therapeutic efficacy and patient comfort.

Purpose of the Study:

• To engineer a new episcleral sponge with a calculated design.
• To achieve adequate intraocular indentation while minimizing external globe contour changes.
• To reduce form-related side effects associated with current sponge designs.

Main Methods:

• A novel sponge profile was developed, featuring two convex halves with distinct radii and an optimized radius ratio.
• The new sponge design was evaluated on porcine eyes.
• Intraocular buckle height was measured using A-scan ultrasound, and extraocular height was assessed via ultrasound biomicroscopy.

Main Results:

• The new episcleral sponge design achieved comparable intraocular buckle height to standard round sponges.
• Significantly lower extraocular height was observed with the new design compared to round sponges (p<0.001).
• Half-cut sponges demonstrated significantly less buckle height than both round sponges and the new design.

Conclusions:

• The novel episcleral sponge design effectively induces sufficient indentation.
• This design minimizes alterations to the outer globe contour, suggesting reduced side effects.
• The new sponge holds potential for comparable efficacy to round sponges with improved patient tolerability.