SBIR-STTR Award

The long-term objective is to develop an automatic, non-contacting method of irrigating dry eyes. The device will be mounted on eyeglass frames, cosmetically acceptable, and capable of replacing the human tear volume. The specific aims are to construct a working prototype with sufficient functionality to test its effectiveness on a small number of severe dry eye patients for up to 30 days. The system components consist of a miniaturized pump, a reservoir for solutions, and an electronic control circuit and battery for programming wetting solution applications.Awardee's statement of the potential commercial applications of the research: The tear jet, micro pump, reservoir, electronics and battery, and mounting bracket for eyeglass frames can be manufactured in a small business and marketed through ophthalmologists and optometrists, and small businesses which specialize in treatment of dry eye. No similar device is currently available commercially. The cost can be competitive with daily use of artificial tears, about $]200 annually per patient.National Eye Institute (NEI)

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Thesaurus Terms:
biomedical equipment development, clinical biomedical equipment, eye aid, human therapy evaluation, keratoconjunctivitis sicca, lavage therapy, method development, vision aid biomedical equipment safety, drug delivery system, longitudinal human study clinical research, human subjectNational Eye Institute (NEI)