Programmable Adhesive Strip for Dry Eye Treatment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current treatments for dry eye syndrome, particularly those involving warm compresses and specialized devices, are often cumbersome, inconvenient, and require patients to keep their eyes closed, limiting compliance and effectiveness.
Innovation Solution
The use of programmable adhesive strips contoured to follow the location of meibomian glands, which can deliver heat, energy, or other therapies while allowing natural blinking, thereby facilitating the clearance of obstructions and promoting oil secretion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If warm compresses and specialized devices are used for dry eye treatment, then treatment effectiveness is improved, but device complexity and ease of operation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The treatment system is segmented into separate functional components: a contoured adhesive strip that conforms to the eyelid anatomy, a separate heating element, and a control unit. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently while simplifying the overall system operation for the patient.
Solution Approach 2:
The adhesive strip is contoured to provide localized treatment to specific regions of the eyelid where meibomian glands are located. The heating and therapeutic effects are concentrated precisely where needed rather than applying heat broadly, improving treatment effectiveness while reducing overall energy consumption and device complexity.
2Reliability
If traditional warm compresses are used, then treatment effectiveness is improved, but ease of operation and patient compliance worsen due to requiring eyes closed
Solution Approach 1:
The adhesive strip is constructed as a thin, flexible film that can be applied to the closed eyelid and maintains contact during natural blinking. This flexible design allows the therapeutic heat to be delivered continuously without requiring the patient to keep their eyes closed, significantly improving ease of operation and patient compliance while maintaining treatment effectiveness.
3Manufacturing precision
If adhesive strips are contoured to follow meibomian glands, then manufacturing precision and treatment targeting are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The adhesive strip is contoured with curved edges that follow the natural anatomy of the eyelid and the distribution of meibomian glands. This curvature is designed to conform to the spherical/oval shape of the eyelid, providing precise targeting of treatment to affected areas while maintaining simplicity in the overall device structure and ease of application.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for targeted and non-invasive treatment of meibomian gland dysfunction, enhancing compliance and effectiveness by enabling patients to perform daily activities with unobstructed vision and natural blinking.
Implementation Method 1
a controller having a controller board and a processor in communication with the one or more heater strips, the controller inducing, and monitoring a programmable temperature of the one or more heater strips
Data Source
AI summary
Controllers for dry eye treatment apparatus and methods are described herein which generally comprise a patch or strip affixed to the skin of the upper and/or lower eyelids to deliver heat to the one or more meibomian glands contained within the underlying skin. The treatment strip or strips include one or more strips configured to adhere to an underlying region of skin in proximity to one or both eyes of a subject such that the one or more strips allow for the subject to blink naturally without restriction from the one or more patches. A controller is in communication with the one or more strips and is programmable to monitor a temperature of the one or more strips to provide a treatment therapy above a threshold temperature of, e.g., 39° C., and below a maximum temperature of, e.g., 48° C., over a treatment period of 12 minutes.