The iStent is implanted during cataract surgery to reduce eye pressure in adult patients with mild-to-moderate open-angle glaucoma being treated with glaucoma medications. In clinical trials, the FDAapproved device has been shown to safely reduce eye pressure, which is the primary cause of open-angle glaucoma.

“Glaucoma is a disease of the optic nerve, the eye that connects the eye to the brain,” Dr. Brian Planchard of the Planchard Eye and Laser Center said. “It is usually characterized by having high eye pressure, though this is not always the case. The eye has a natural pressure that it maintains to keep its shape and function.