US scientists develop home glaucoma test

The self-test instrument was designed in associate professor Eniko Enikov’s lab at the University of Arizona’s College of Engineering.

’You simply close your eye and rub the eyelid like you might casually rub your eye,’ said Enikov, a professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering. ’The instrument detects the stiffness and, therefore, infers the intraocular pressure.’

While the probe is simple to use, the technology behind it involves a system of sensors, custom ICs and algorithms.

Enikov began working on the probe four years ago in collaboration with Dr Gholan Peyman, a Phoenix ophthalmologist. ’We went through several years of refinement and modifications to arrive at the current design,’ Enikov noted.

The National Science Foundation has funded the work, and Enikov and Peyman now are seeking investors to help fund final development and commercialisation of the product.

In addition to screening for glaucoma, an eye disease that can lead to blindness if left untreated, the device corrects some problems with the current procedure and can be used to measure drainage of intraocular fluid.