Making glaucoma surgery more precise: Winner of the UKEGS/Glaucoma UK research grant 2025 announced
We are pleased to announce that the recipient of the Glaucoma UK/UKEGS joint research grant for 2025 is Dr Bhavin Patel, Senior Glaucoma Research Fellow at King’s College London & St Thomas’ Hospital.
Bhavin’s project is titled “Guiding Keyhole Glaucoma Surgery with Light and Sound Imaging.” This innovative research investigates whether an ultrasound probe can enhance the precision of glaucoma surgery.
Minimally invasive glaucoma surgery, often called MIGS, offers patients a safer and less invasive alternative to traditional glaucoma operations which has transformed how the disease is treated. But one challenge remains: precision. Surgeons are working within the smallest and most delicate drainage structures inside the eye, often guided only by what they can see through the operating microscope. Even millimetre scale differences in where a device is placed can mean the difference between a successful outcome and one that fails to lower eye pressure.
Dr Patel’s project aims to solve this challenge head on. In collaboration with the Department of Surgical & Interventional Engineering at King’s College London, his team is developing a highly sensitive fibre optic sensor so small it can be incorporated into the tip of a surgical instrument. When illuminated by a brief pulse of safe, low power laser light, the sensor generates ultrasound signals from within the eye itself, producing a live, high-resolution map of exactly where the instrument is and what lies in front of it. By combining light and sound, surgeons will, for the first time, be able to see beneath the surface of the eye’s drainage system as they operate, not just on top of it.
The long-term vision is even more ambitious. The same technology may allow surgeons to measure aqueous outflow in real time, providing an immediate indicator of whether the surgery has worked before the patient even leaves theatre. This would transform glaucoma surgery making treatment more predictable, reducing the need for further operations, and helping to preserve sight for more patients.
Bhavin said, “Minimally invasive glaucoma surgery has always been limited by what the surgeon can see. By bringing light and sound imaging inside the eye itself, we potentially can give surgeons something they’ve never had before, real time precision and immediate feedback on whether the surgery is working. If successful, this technology could raise the standard of care in MIGS, prevent sight loss for thousands of patients, and open the door to a new generation of intelligent, image-guided glaucoma devices.”
Mr Andrew Tatham, 2025 President of UKEGS and on the grant panel, told us, “One of the core aims of UKEGS is to improve surgery for glaucoma, by bringing together glaucoma specialists and stimulating research. We love the creativity and innovation in this project, and are looking forward to seeing whether MIGS surgeries can be improved as a result.”
Joanna Hodgkinson, Head of Research at Glaucoma UK, commented, “We know many patients find the prospect of glaucoma surgery daunting. We are very excited to be funding research that might make the surgery more precise, and therefore safer and more likely to be successful, and thus protect the vision of more people living with glaucoma.”