Essilor takes on sole distribution of IDRA

Essilor has taken on sole distribution of the IDRA dry eye diagnosis tool by SBM Sistemi, something the company believes can help eye care professionals create a dry eye clinic in practice.

The IDRA device performs a full assessment of the ocular surface, through a series of tests including assessing the quality of tears and analysis of the meibomian glands, in order to classify the type of dry eye disease. The device researches the lipid, aqueous, muscin layers and meibomian glands.

The system produces a 3D image to help practitioners analyse and understand the eye lid structure. The image can also be shared with patients to help them to understand the cause of their discomfort, and why a particular treatment has been recommended.

Tim Precious, managing director at Essilor, suggested that market data has indicated that people suffering from dry eye are increasingly seeking treatment.

“It’s a clear growth area and practices looking to broaden their services should consider offering a dry eye clinic to help existing patients and attract new customers through the doors,” Mr Precious suggested.

The company suggested that using the IDRA alongside Essilor’s TearStim Dry Eye treatment could provide eye care professionals with a complete diagnosis and treatment service for patients living with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), the most common cause of dry eye.

While IDRA could be used to determine if the cause of dry eye is MGD, the TearStim, which uses Intense Regulated Pulsed Light technology, could then be used to stimulate the meibomian gland into functioning properly again.

“Treating dry eye is very important both for the patient's comfort and for the long-term health of the surface of the eye,” Mr Precious continued.