Efficacy of a novel water propelled, heating eye mask massager on tear film and ocular adnexa

Abstract

Purpose: to determine the effectiveness of the Aurai water propelled, heating Eye Massager (AEM) in managing dry eye disease and its effects on the ocular adnexa.Methods: This was a prospective, randomised cross-over study that enrolled 15 participants (aged 25.8 ± 5.45 years, 5 male). Participants wore a smart watch 24 hours a day to track their sleeping cycle and heart rate for 4 weeks, using the AEM twice a day for 2 of those weeks. A cycle of 6 minutes of a controlled heat and vibration pattern in the morning and another cycle in the evening were applied with the AEM. Primary outcomes of symptomatology (Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) and Symptom Assessment iN Dry Eye (SANDE)), tear film homeostasis markers (osmolarity, noninvasive breakup time (NIKBUT), tear meniscus height (TMH), lipid layer thickness and ocular staining) and safety measures (ocular redness and intraocular pressure), were assessed at baseline, after 2 weeks of AEM use and after 2 weeks of no treatment (in random-sequence). Sleeping tracking (ST) and heart rate/blood oxygen detection over these periods was also assessed.Results: There was a significant change in OSDI score from 34.3±19.5 at baseline to 18.8±17.5 after treatment (p = 0.001) and also for the SANDE (5.7 ± 2.4 vs 3.7 ± 2.1; p = 0.001). Heart rate was not affected by treatment (p=0.956), nor sleep pattern (p=0.529), but this varied by day (p=0.001). Tear film homeostasis, the ocular adnexia and safety measures were not affected by treatment (p>0.05). Conclusion:The Aurai water propelled Eye Massager may relieve symptoms of dry eye and its severity, but there were no detectable effects on tear stability from two weeks use.

Comparison of the Ocular Surface Disease Index and the Symptom Assessment in Dry Eye Questionnaires for Dry Eye Symptom Assessment

“…Chen et al found [ 35 ] significantly higher SANDE scores in a sample of young women, mostly without dry eyes, and Kheirkhah et al [ 22 ] also found higher SANDE (67.5 ± 17.8) than OSDI (47.9 ± 23.2) scores in a sample of patients with meibomian gland dysfunction. In contrast, other reports have described lower SANDE scores than OSDI scores in dry eye patients [ 18 , 19 , 21 ].…”

“…Several questionnaires have been proposed to explore DES in clinical and research practice [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ], but OSDI and SANDE have been widely used for decades [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. The OSDI questionnaire, in conjunction with DED, has been recommended as the primary questionnaire for diagnosing DED by TFOS DEWIS [ 14 ].…”

“…The OSDI questionnaire, in conjunction with DED, has been recommended as the primary questionnaire for diagnosing DED by TFOS DEWIS [ 14 ]. Although most comparisons between the OSDI and SANDE questionnaires have assessed patients with dry eyes [ 18 , 19 ], both questionnaires have been proposed to differentiate between patients with and without DES [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 20 , 25 , 27 , 28 ] and to evaluate the disease progression and treatment effect [ 15 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 34 ]. For this reason, we compared OSDI and SANDE scores in a large sample of patients with and without DES to clarify if both questionnaires could provide interchangeable results to distinguish between patients with different dryness severity symptoms in eye care practice.…”

“…Such questionnaires include the Impact of Dry Eye in Everyday Life questionnaire [ 7 ], the University of North Carolina Dry Eye Management Scale [ 8 ], the Dry Eye-Related Quality-of-Life Score questionnaire [ 9 ], the Ocular Comfort Index questionnaire [ 10 ], the Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness questionnaire [ 11 ], the McMonnies Questionnaire [ 12 , 13 ], the dry eye questionnaire DEQ-5 [ 14 ], and others. The Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) and Symptom Assessment in Dry Eye (SANDE) have been widely used for decades [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ] because they provide reliable and valid measurements of dry eye symptoms (DES) [ 15 , 17 ]. The OSDI questionnaire was developed by Allergan Inc. (Irvine, CA, USA) in 2000 [ 15 ], and the current version includes a 12-item self-administered questionnaire that evaluates the frequency of symptoms over the preceding week in approximately 5 min.…”

2022 Glenn A. Fry Award lecture: Enhancing clinical assessment for improved ophthalmic management

“…Other simple treatments for dry eye disease include warming the meibomian glands. Microwave-heated compresses work well 340,341 and are better than the traditionally advocated water-warmed flannels, 342,343 as they maintain the required temperature 344 of approximately 40°C 345 ; however, there is still scope to refine the treatment protocol and to assess whether mechanical in-office [346][347][348] or portable devices we have evaluated 349 outperform simple approaches. We have shown that the meibomian glands do need to be more than 10% of their original length to have potential of expressing meibum.…”