A Novel Noninvasive Screening Tool for Dry Eye Disease

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Medical Devices
• Diagnostic Tools

Background:

• Dry eye disease (DED) is a prevalent condition affecting ocular surface health.
• Accurate and efficient screening tools are crucial for timely DED diagnosis and management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of the novel DEvice© tool for DED screening.
• To assess the utility of measuring ocular surface relative humidity (RH) and temperature for DED detection.

Main Methods:

• A comparative study involving 40 patients, classified as DED or non-DED using the Keratograph 5M.
• DEvice© was used to measure ocular surface RH and temperature, alongside OSDI symptom scoring.
• Key metrics included noninvasive keratograph breakup time (NIKBUT), tear meniscus height (TMH), meibomian gland loss (MGL), and bulbar redness.

Main Results:

• DEvice© detected significantly higher ocular surface RH in DED patients compared to controls (85.93% vs. 73.05%, p=0.0049).
• A significant correlation was observed between RH and OSDI scores (r=0.406, p=0.009).
• The RH parameter demonstrated a discriminating power for DED with an AUC of 0.782 (p=0.0022).

Conclusions:

• The DEvice© tool effectively differentiates DED patients from healthy individuals.
• Ocular surface RH measurement using DEvice© shows high sensitivity, making it suitable for fast, noninvasive DED screening.