A Device for Home IOP Monitoring (Bar Ilan)
- Summary
- Intraocular pressure (IOP), an important part of any eye exam, is measured with a special instrument called a tonometer. The most widely employed devices are the Goldmann and the air-puff tonometers. In both, the intraocular pressure is inferred from the force required to flatten (applanate) a constant area of the cornea. Thus, are not comfortable, require a specialist (ophthalmologist) in the clinic, and more than that, are not accurate; take only one read, not taking in account fluctuations and the factor of the lenses thickness.
- Detailed Technology Description
- Our innovative technology is based on the usage of a reflected secondary speckle (RSS) pattern,which was demonstrated before for "hearing" remote speech signals, heart beats and extraction of vibrations from remote objects. Our system contains a regular camera with its optics as well as a laser source. In general, speckles are self-interference random patterns with a remarkable quality where each individual speckle serves as a reference point from which one can track changes in the phase of the light that is being scattered from a surface. Practically, the laser illuminates the region of interest where the measurement should be performed. Speckles are reflected from the illuminated surface and the speckle pattern is built on the detector of the camera. Our ability to modify the speckle pattern to be constant under vibration of the illuminated object is our tremendous advantage over other speckle-related techniques where the pattern varies in a non-controllable manner. By our technology, a shift in the constant speckle pattern, which is caused by vibration of the illuminated object, is tracked by a correlation-based algorithm using MATLAB software.
- Patent Information
- patent pending
- Others
- Proof of principle experiments were conducted in a Rabbit pre-clinical model. The results demonstrated high correlations between the optically extracted remote measurement and the reference estimation of the IOP parameter by a tonometer. Based on our proof of principle results, we intend to apply the proposed configuration in clinical trials using a laser that is safe to human eyes.
Commercial Significance:
Our novel optical approach will allow constant monitoring of IOP from remote (non-contact) by a simple, accurate and computerized device that can be operated with no need of a specialist.
- Country/Region
- Israel
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