In an April 2022 press release, Nova Eye Medical announced the launch of iTrackTM Advance in select European and Asian Pacific markets. The device is the latest version of iTrackTM, a gentle technique launched in 2008 for lowering internal eye (intraocular) pressure in glaucoma. To date, iTrack has been used in over 100,000 corrective procedures worldwide. Here’s what it involves.*

How Glaucoma Damages

In the front part of the eye, in front of the lens, a clear fluid called aqueous humor is constantly produced that nourishes the eye and keeps it inflated. Normally, this fluid is pushed through the pupil into the front eye chamber, where it exits the eye mainly through a drainage system called the trabecular pathway. 

This path involves a circular canal that captures the fluid and carries it to blood vessels. The canal is supported and held open by a structure called the trabecular meshwork. In primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), this natural drainage system becomes blocked, like a clogged drainpipe, and fluid pressure builds. The higher pressure damages your optic nerve.

While POAG is the most common type of glaucoma in the U.S., affecting roughly three million people each year, many people show no symptoms for many years. If not diagnosed and treated early, loss of vision can occur over time. If treated early, however, patients usually respond well.

Glaucoma and iTrack

The iTrack device is designed to decrease elevated fluid pressure within the eye, which is critical to preserving eyesight in glaucoma. Called canaloplasty, the procedure restores the eye’s drainage pathway by enlarging the canal with an advanced microcatheter (small, thin tube). The catheter—iTrack—is guided by a lighted fiber optic tip. The procedure is similar to angioplasty, in which a catheter is inserted through a clogged artery.*

Canaloplasty involves several steps:

1. A small incision is made in the eye.
2. The iTrack is gently inserted into the drainage canal and guided all the way around it to manually remove blockages.
3. As the catheter is slowly withdrawn, a special sterile gel is released that dilates the canal up to three times its normal size.

As a result, and without harming the eye’s drainage system, fluid outflow is improved, and intraocular pressure (IOP) is lowered to a safe level. No devices are implanted in the eye, and the procedure may even reduce the need for glaucoma medication.

iTrack Advance

According to Nova’s press release, the improved version of iTrack, called iTrack Advance, will perform the procedure more efficiently. Though canaloplasty is widely recognized as a highly effective glaucoma treatment, its use has been limited because of the intricacies involved.

Said Nova Eye Medical’s Managing Director Tom Spurling, “With iTrack™ Advance we have taken the clinically proven iTrack™ microcatheter and engineered it into an intuitive, easy-to-use handpiece. It’s the perfect marriage of clinical excellence and surgical efficiency. We see iTrack™ Advance being readily adopted into the glaucoma toolkit of cataract surgeons and comprehensive ophthalmologists. This will ensure improved access to the canaloplasty procedure for a greater number of glaucoma patients worldwide.”

Though not yet for sale or use in the U.S., more information on iTrack Advance can be found at http://itrack-advance.com.

*Southwest Health. (2020, November 4). iTrack minimally invasive glaucoma procedure—animated video [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5swteXBJ08

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