QMAX · Glaucoma

QMAX: the two-pressure glaucoma implant.

Equalizing pressure across the optic nerve head.

Glaucoma damages the optic nerve through a pressure gradient between the inside of the eye and the fluid around the nerve. QMAX is a first-in-class implant designed to neutralize that gradient.

Illustration of QMAX routing fluid to equalize pressure across the optic nerve.

The translaminar pressure gradient

The optic nerve head sits at the lamina cribrosa, a thin sheet of nerve fibers under load from two sides: intraocular pressure (IOP) in front and the cerebrospinal fluid pressure in the space behind the nerve. What strains and damages the nerve is the difference between them, the translaminar pressure gradient. Lowering IOP alone narrows that gap from one side only. If the gradient remains, nerve fibers keep dying.

What QMAX does

Connects the aqueous humor to the fluid space around the optic nerve
Equalizes pressure across the optic nerve head, not only inside the eye
Removes the gradient that strains and kills retinal ganglion cell axons
Operates without a filtering bleb and without anti-fibrotic agents
Targets both high-IOP and normal-tension glaucoma populations (investigator context; not labeling)

Cross-section illustration of eye anatomy and the optic nerve pathway.

What QMAX is not

Not a trabecular shunt.

It does not depend on Schlemm's canal.

Not a bleb-based filter.

No subconjunctival blister, no bleb revision.

Not an IOP-only device.

It is built around the gradient, not the symptom.

The result is a device that addresses what other surgeries leave on the table, including the patients whose vision keeps dropping at "normal" pressures.

Clinical illustration of a filtering bleb after conventional glaucoma surgery.

QSCOPE single-use endoscopic delivery system.

Built for the surgical workflow you already run

QMAX is delivered with QSCOPE, a single-use endoscopic system that gently tents the nerve sheath into a protected space and places the implant. It is designed as a simple, repeatable endoscopic procedure that integrates with existing cataract capital equipment, rather than a delicate open dissection.

Designed to be

Simple and repeatable
Endoscopic
High-turnover workflow compatible
Free of post-op bleb management

A complete procedure system

QMAX ships as a sterile, procedure-ready system: implant, delivery, and procedure pack designed for reproducibility and OR efficiency.

Packaging

[alt pending: replace before launch] QMAX sterile packaging.

Procedure pack

[alt pending: replace before launch] QMAX procedure pack contents overview.

Illustration of QMAX implant position along the optic nerve sheath.

Illustration of QMAX shunt placement on the eye surface.

Route to market

QMAX is on a defined regulatory and clinical pathway toward US market access. The milestones below are forward-looking and subject to change; they are presented for investor and partner context, not as guarantees.

2026

FDA Breakthrough Device application (targeted)

2026

Gen 3 clinical study

2027

Endoscopic delivery feasibility study

2028

GLP preclinical · FDA IDE

2028–2030

Pivotal trial

2030

FDA approval (De Novo) (targeted)

What leaders in glaucoma are saying

John Berdahl, MD
The translaminar pressure gradient is the science glaucoma has been missing. QMAX is built directly on that foundation.

Richard Beckman, MD
QMAX is transformational — a mechanism-led approach that addresses vision loss beyond IOP lowering alone.

Reay Brown, MD
From a MIGS-era surgical perspective, QMAX is a credible next step for patients who still progress on conventional therapy.

The science behind the device

10 global patent families covering the ONSAS mechanism, the device and delivery system, and the surgical method
First-in-human experience across three device generations, engineering out failure modes generation by generation
Clinical pathway routed through US sites

Talk to the team