Not a trabecular shunt.
It does not depend on Schlemm's canal.
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.
The translaminar pressure gradientTranslaminar pressure gradientThe pressure difference across the optic nerve head between IOP and CSF pressure. A sustained gradient strains nerve fibers.
The optic nerve headOptic nerve headWhere retinal nerve fibers exit the eye. QMAX is designed to relieve strain at this point. sits at the lamina cribrosa, a thin sheet of nerve fibers under load from two sides: intraocular pressure (IOPIntraocular pressureFluid pressure inside the eye. Most glaucoma therapies aim to lower 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 gradientTranslaminar pressure gradientThe pressure difference across the optic nerve head between IOP and CSF pressure. A sustained gradient strains nerve fibers.. Lowering IOPIntraocular pressureFluid pressure inside the eye. Most glaucoma therapies aim to lower 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 headOptic nerve headWhere retinal nerve fibers exit the eye. QMAX is designed to relieve strain at this point., 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-IOPIntraocular pressureFluid pressure inside the eye. Most glaucoma therapies aim to lower IOP. and normal-tension glaucoma populations (investigator context; not labeling)
What QMAX is not
Not a bleb-based filter.
No subconjunctival blister, no bleb revision.
Not an IOPIntraocular pressureFluid pressure inside the eye. Most glaucoma therapies aim to lower 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.
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
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
Named advisors have reviewed QMAX. Their endorsing statements will be published following clearance.
John Berdahl, MDEndorsement pending final approval.
Richard Beckman, MDEndorsement pending final approval.
Reay Brown, MDEndorsement pending final approval.
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