Long-Term in vivo Positional Stability of a Suprachoroidal Telemetric Intraocular Pressure Sensor Implant.

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term in vivo positional stability of a novel suprachoroidal telemetric intraocular pressure (IOP) sensor implant.

METHODS

In this prospective, open-label, multicenter interventional study, 24 patients undergoing nonpenetrating glaucoma surgery with simultaneous implantation of the suprachoroidal EyeMate-SC IOP sensor were considered (Implandata Ophthalmic Products GmbH, Hannover, Germany). Overall, 11 patients were excluded owing to incomplete data. Of the remaining patients, 11 were diagnosed with primary open-angle glaucoma, 1 with pseudoexfoliative glaucoma, and 1 with uveitic glaucoma. The sensor position was measured intraoperatively via surgical video analysis and postoperatively via swept-source anterior segment optical coherence tomography (Anterion, Heidelberg Engineering GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany) with reference to the anatomical limbus. Postoperative assessments were conducted at 10, 30, 90, 180, 270, 360, 540, 720, 900, and 1080 days.

RESULTS

Unilateral implantation was successful in all 24 cases. No dislocations occurred. In one patient, partial suprachoroidal positioning was observed intraoperatively, with subsequent autonomous repositioning into full suprachoroidal placement within weeks. Excluding this case, the absolute implant position was 1.6 ± 0.8 mm at day 0, 1.7 ± 1.0 mm at day 360, 1.9 ± 1.8 mm at day 720, and 2.1 ± 0.9 mm at day 1080. Notably, the relationship between ΔIOP (Goldmann applanation tonometry - EyeMate-SC reading) and absolute implant position remained nonsignificant, regardless of whether the patient with the initially incomplete implantation was included (r = -0.08, 95% CI: -0.32 to 0.38) or excluded (r = -0.11, 95% CI: -0.37 to 0.36).

CONCLUSION

This study indicates high long-term in vivo positional stability of the EyeMate-SC IOP sensor. The observed variations were within measurement uncertainty. This supports the sensor's potential for safe and continuous IOP monitoring in glaucoma care.