Therapeutic ultrasound has become a topic of growing interest in ophthalmology. High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) for the treatment of glaucoma and ultrasound (US) drug delivery are the two main areas of research in this field. This work addresses these domains in two separate parts: transscleral ultrasound drug delivery (USDD), and infrared (IR) field characterization of an ophthalmic HIFU device for glaucoma treatment. The sclera is a promising pathway for ocular drug delivery, since transscleral administration can address both the anterior and posterior segments of the eye. Due to the low permeability however, efficient drug delivery is challenging. In this study, HIFU was investigated as a potential modality for an enhanced transscleral drug delivery (in vitro). Among US effects, cavitation was shown to be the major contributor to an enhanced USDD. A pulsed US protocol designed to maximum cavitation activity may therefore be a viable method for enhancing ocular drug delivery. In the second part, a new method of ultrasonic field characterization was developed for a multi-element HIFU device. This system is designed and produced for glaucoma treatment by Eyetechcare Company (Rillieux-la-Pape, France). The traditional hydrophone method for field characterization was prohibitively slow on an industrial scale. An alternative modality for rapid qualitative assessment of the intensity distribution based on infra-red (IR) thermography was developed specific to this high frequency (19-21 MHz) device with line-focus US radiators. The second part of the study was aimed to expand the application of a R&D technique for ultrasonic field characterization to an industrial scale
High intensity focused ultrasound in ophthalmology : part one, transscleral drug delivery : part two, infrared thermography for scalable acoustic characterization, an application in the manufacture of a glaucoma treatment device