Serious dry eye can be quite debilitating and current therapies like eye drops and cyclosporine are either difficult to manage or don’t really fix the problem. Eye drops require refrigeration, so keeping them cold and handy is a challenge. Cyclosporine, on the other hand, only treats the inflammation and has a low rate of patient compliance. A company called Oculeve, which came out of the Stanford Biodesign program, has developed a tiny implant that may help a lot of people suffering from dry eye caused by a variety of underlying conditions.
The device electrically stimulates the lacrimal gland, the organ responsible for tear production. There’s two versions of the device, one that is placed within the nasal cavity and the other is implanted under the skin above the eyelids. The device, which can be controlled using a wireless interface, has already been in clinical trials in Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico toward getting European and Canadian approvals, and trials aimed at the FDA are already being planned.
Stanford: A real tear-jerker: Team creates device to alleviate dry eye…
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