Novel diagnostic method for dry eye - Initial clinical outcomes of 3D-WLT study of the Tear Film Imager
| Author | Affiliation |
|---|---|
Geffen, Noa | |
| Date |
|---|
2016-06-19 |
Purpose: Hypotensive medications used for glaucoma treatment are known to be an important cause for dry eye syndrome (DES). DES is hard to diagnose due to an array of conventional multi-device/step testing methods. The three dimensional white light tomography (3D-WLT), a novel Tear Film Imager (TFI), was used to evaluate DES. The TFI, developed by AdOM advance optical technology Ltd, seeks to provide both quantified and qualitative data to measures the comprehensive parameters of tear film behavior in a single noninvasive test. Methods: DES severity was graded using conventional DES testing methods, including: Schrimer test, tear breakup time (TBUT), tear meniscus height, florescence staining and patient questionnaire. Subsequently, each patient went through a two-minute TFI test followed by a retest after 30 minutes rest. TFI was utilized to measure the aqueous layer thickness (ALT) at a nanometer level as a function of time and calculates average ALT as well as the ATL rate. In addition, the TFI measures the lipid layer thickness (LLT) at sub-nanometer level as function of time and establishes average LLT and lipid breakup time (LBUT). Results: 26 subjects were included. DES severity: 10 severe, 7 mild and 9 controls. The TFI quantified measurements diagnosed DES subjects with 100% sensitivity and 78% specificity. The TFI diagnosis predictive values were 90% and 100% for the positive and negative arms. The TFI LBUT measurement correlated well (Pearson 0.96, p < 0.01) to TBUT and distinguished lipid abnormalities. The TFI ALT measurements were highly agreeable (Pearson 0.93, p < 0.01) between the two measurements and clearly distinguished aqueous tear deficiency patients. The TFI ALT rate measurements demonstrated notable differentiation between the DES subjects and distinguished the presence of evaporative dry eye conditions. Conclusions: TFI results demonstrated good agreement with complex traditional metho[...].