Symmetric sensor for applanation resonance tomometry of the eye

Applanation resonance tonometry (ART) has been shown in a number of studies to be useful for measuring intraocular pressure (IOP). Data from in vitro laboratory bench testing, where the sensor was carefully centralised onto the cornea, has been very consistent with good precision in the determination of IOP. However, in a clinical study the unavoidable off-centre placement of the sensor against the cornea resulted in a reduced precision. The aim of this study was to evaluate a new design of the sensor with a symmetric sensor probe and a contact piece with a larger diameter. Two in vitro porcine eye experimental set-ups were used. One bench-based for examining position dependence and one biomicroscope-based set-up, simulating a clinical setting, for evaluating IOP(ART) precision at seven different pressure levels (1040 mmHg), set by connecting a saline column to the vitreous chamber. The reference IOP was recorded using a pressure transducer. There was no significant difference between four positions 1 mm off centre and the one centre position. The precision of the ART as compared with the reference pressure was +/- 1.03 mmHg (SD, n = 42). The design improvement has enhanced the precision of the ART in the biomicroscope set-up to be in parity with bench test results from a set-up using perfect positioning. This indicates that off-centre positioning was no longer a major contributor to the deviations in measured IOP. The precision was well within the limits set by ISO standard for eye tonometers. Therefore, a larger in vivo study on human eyes with the ART should be performed.