ABSTRACT
This chapter is inspired by US Patent Application 20060167422, Heat-Shrink Scleral Band with Custom-Made Buckle for Retinal Detachment Surgery. It is also inspired by the published Patent Application US020060167422A120060727 (https://www.pat2pdf.org" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">pat2pdf.org).
A method and apparatus have been discussed for correcting retinal detachments by heat shrinking a specially designed scleral band equipped with a snap on custom-made buckle for scleral indentation over the retinal tear region. The heat-shrink band is made of a heat-shrink material such as a polymer or an alloy and is equipped with a custom-made buckle to perfectly fit the topological geometry of the retinal detachment region over the underlying choroid and the sclera, the conjunctiva and within Tenon’s space wherein the band is heat shrunk to create a perfect buckle over the retinal tear region to reattach the retina to the choroid and cause absorption of the subretinal fluid. Conventional, laser, microwave, joule, or radio-frequency (RF) heating means are also discussed.
