With the founders having close ties to University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School of Engineering, Avisi is a medical devices startup - currently resident in JPod Philadelphia - investigating the use of a nanoscale, ocular implant to stop blindness. Open Angle Glaucoma (OAG) is the second leading cause of vision loss and currently cannot be cured or reversed. Those having OAG experience excess fluid builds up inside the eye causing pressure that permanently damages the optic nerve. To address this condition, the Avisi Technologies team is developing VisiPlate - a nanoscale drainage implant that creates a new outflow pathway for aqueous humor in the eye. Excess fluid flows through VisiPlate (a 510(k) medical device) and is slowly absorbed into surrounding tissue over time - efectively alleviating pressure on the optic nerve. The nanotechnology underlying VisiPlate is a shape-recovering, plate metamaterial developed at the University of Pennsylvania. Being 1000x thinner than other tube shunts like the Ahmed Glaucoma Valve and the Baerveldt Implant, Visiplate decreases bleb profile and increases patient comfort. VisiPlate also mitigates risk of post-operative double vision, tissue erosion, and bleb failure from excess fibrosis around tube shunts. Compared to minimally invasive glaucoma surgeries (MIGS) such as the XEN Gel Stent and iStent, VisiPlate aims to lower pressure more effectively over time and reduce the need for procedures such as needling.
