ASCRS President Reviews Avisi’s New VisiPlate-S and VisiPlate Device Technology
During the 2025 European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) conference, Past President of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) Dr. Vance Thompson was interviewed by Eyewire. Dr. Thompson shared significant information on Avisi’s VisiPlate® and VisiPlate-S products to treat glaucoma. These innovative devices were created to treat varying levels of glaucoma severity, covering the entire spectrum of this blinding disease. The VisiPlate® subconjunctival Aqueous Shunt targets refractory Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma (POAG), while VisiPlate-S is a suprachoroidal shunt that targets mild-moderate POAG, in combination with cataract surgery.
Controlling intraocular pressure, or the fluidic pressure inside the eye, is the only clinically proven way to prevent progression of blindness in glaucoma patients. The VisiPlate platform of technologies does this through providing microfluidic outflow of pent-up fluid in the eye to a drainage zone. Unlike other technologies and interventions, the VisiPlate materials are nonfibrotic, or non-scarring, to prevent risk of blockages and postoperative failure.
In the interview, Dr. Thompson shared that “VisiPlate® is an ultra-thin (5 micron) non-fibrotic device made of alumina and parylene-C, which makes it highly biocompatible. It’s a multi-channel device that allows microfluidic flow driven by the pressure gradient difference between the anterior chamber and the drainage zone. This is the same, actually, for the VisiPlate-S—MIGS device. These microchannels completely control flow because there’s in-built resistance to prevent hypotony, per Hagen-Poiseuille principles.” VisiPlate-S is an exciting platform extension of Avisi’s novel metamaterials platform and represents the next step in interventional glaucoma. By aiming to make early glaucoma treatment accessible at the time of cataract surgery while also preserving the potential to use VisiPlate® down the line if needed, VisiPlate-S is a potential solution for over 1 million cataract and glaucoma patients in the US each year. While VisiPlate-S is currently in the pre-clinical development stage, VisiPlate® is being studied in the SAPPHIRE FDA-approved IDE Trial across various states in the U.S. To learn more about SAPPHIRE and enrollment criteria, visit avisitech.com/clinical-trials.
To view Dr. Vance Thompson’s full interview, click here.
To learn more about Dr. Vance Thompson, click here.
