Early Detection of Evaporative Dry Eye Syndrome (EDE)

描述（由申请人提供）：仅在美国，干眼症（DE）就影响了2500万至3000万人，每年的直接医疗保健费用为38.4亿美元。蒸发性干眼症（EDE）是由于泪液中脂质缺乏导致泪液过早蒸发而引起的。需要解决的问题是，目前准确诊断EDE的方法既费时又昂贵。需要一种快速、客观、分析性的方法，可以在常规眼科检查（10分钟）中使用。为了解决这一问题，我们建议使用超快速红外光谱仪测量传统席尔默试纸取样的泪液中脂质与蛋白质的比例；眼科检查在眼科检查中例行进行的检查沉积在Schirmer条带上的化学成分将使用一种独特的测量方法进行测量，该方法将化学成分沿着条带分离，并使用采用衰减全反射附件的新型多通道测量系统测量这些成分的分布。EDE的主要原因是由于低脂水平导致的泪液快速蒸发。干眼症的发作可以通过泪液脂质含量的变化（脂质与蛋白质比率（L/P）的降低）来预先预测

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Dry eye (DE) affects 25-30 million people in the U.S. alone and is responsible for $3.84 billion in direct annual health care costs. Evaporative dry eye (EDE) results from a lipid deficiency in tears causing the premature evaporation of tears. The problem to be solved is that current methods for accurately diagnosing EDE take time and are expensive. A fast, objective, analytical method that can be administered during a routine eye examination (10 minutes) is needed. We propose to address this need using a ultra-fast infrared spectrograph to measure the ratio of lipid to protein in tear fluid sampled with a conventional Schirmer strip; a test routinely administered during an eye exam. The chemical constituents deposited on the Schirmer strip will be measured using a unique measurement approach, which couples separation of the chemical components along the strip and measurement of the distribution of these components with a new, multichannel measurement system employing an attenuated total reflection accessory. The primary cause of EDE is rapid tear evaporation due to low lipid levels. The onset of dry eye conditions can be pre-anticipated by changes in the lipid content of tears (a decrease in lipid to protein ratio (L/P)) measured by an infrared analysis of a tear film obtained on a Schirmer test strip. The long term goal is to provide an instrument compatible with a doctor's office that can rapidly and reliably measure the lipid to protein ratio n tears. This Phase I program will determine the L/P in synthetic and natural tears sampled with a Schirmer strip in less than two minutes with sensitivity (precision) of 1%. The Phase II program will design and construct a bench-top instrument, suitable for use in an ophthalmologist's office. It will use a standard Schirmer strip containing tears extracted from a patient during a routine ophthalmic exam and provide a measure of the lipid to protein ratio. There are more than 18,000 practicing ophthalmologists in the U.S. today. This "user-friendly", technician-operated, PA-IR instrument will allow them to track the L/P ratio for patients and provide for early detectio of the onset of evaporative dry eye (EDE).