OcuSense Awarded Key Patent for Dry Eye Syndrome
OcuSense, Inc., a developer of doctor’s office-based tests for eye care, has received notice from the United States Patent & Trademark Office that one of its core patents was issued on March 28, 2006. This patent, titled "Tear Film Osmometry" (USPTO #7,017,394), claims a lab on a chip approach to measure tear osmolarity for the diagnosis and management of Dry Eye Syndrome (DES).
DES is a chronic, glandular disease that affects 40-60 million Americans. Yet, according to recently published surveys, only 5% are correctly diagnosed due to the inability of current tests to detect early stage disease and their inability to differentiate dry eye from other eye diseases with similar symptoms, such as ocular allergy and infection. Considering DES can adversely impact ocular health and quality of life, early therapeutic intervention is critical. At present, there are several treatment options available to patients, in addition to numerous drug candidates in clinical trials. The OcuSense technology fills the need for an objective and quantitative test to ensure patient access to existing and emerging therapies.
Osmolarity is considered the only objective and quantitative biomarker for DES that reflects the level of disease severity. Yet while osmolarity is considered the "gold standard" marker for diagnosing DES, tests used today to determine osmolarity of blood and urine cannot accurately measure osmolarity in tears due to the extremely small quantities available for testing. Additionally, these tests are not suitable for use in a doctor’s office.
The OcuSense DES technology enables a unique, in-office diagnostic test that is expected to provide eye care professionals with the first system to rapidly measure osmolarity during a patient’s office visit. The key to the company’s technology is its ability to precisely measure osmolarity using tear volumes that are roughly 300 times smaller than a drop of water. The ability to collect and rapidly measure such a small volume also reduces potential for test variability.
OcuSense’s 7,017,394 patent covers the use of microelectronic sensors, which are very inexpensive sensors that can reliably detect osmolarity in small fluid volumes. OcuSense embeds its sensors into proprietary, microfluidic lab cards that then rapidly process the tear samples without the risk of evaporation. The entire test is expected to take only 2 minutes to perform. This access to patient results at time of treatment provides a much needed tool to the eye care practitioner who can then more accurately prescribe appropriate treatment or ensure a better contact lens fit.
About OcuSense
OcuSense is a privately held company that is advancing the state-of-the-art in eye care. In addition to the 7,017,394 patent and other technologies that OcuSense has invented, the company has exclusive license rights to a significant portfolio of microfluidic patents for development of rapid, inexpensive, and easy-to-use disposable tests. The Company is developing additional tests to measure other biomarkers in tears to add to its diagnostics panel that can be used both for ocular disease detection as well as treatment monitoring. There is a growing trend toward the use of biomarkers in eye care, and OcuSense is uniquely positioned to deliver on the promise of point-of-care or office-based tear testing.