LacryDiag promises accurate diagnosis of dry eye

27 Jun 2018

Quantel Medical device can analyze precise causes of the condition and assist with treatment.

The medical condition termed dry eye can cover a number of different symptoms, including irritation, redness and fatigue of the eyes, and has proven a challenge to effective public health management.

A new diagnostic platform from Quantel Medical, launched during the World Ophthalmology Congress in June 2018, could help clinicians to accurately and rapidly diagnose the parameters of the condition in different patients, enabling the most effective treatment.

LacryDiag performs non-contact analysis of the ocular surface in order to evaluate precisely the three different layers of the tear film—lipid, aqueous and mucinic—which protect the eye and are essential for its good functioning.

Using illumination from white, blue and infrared LED sources, each layer is analyzed via a different modality: interferometry for the lipid layer; a time measurement related to the tear film termed the non-invasive break-up time for the mucinic layer; and measurement of the tear meniscus to assess the condition of the aqueous layer.

The device also assesses the meibomian glands at the rim of the eyelid, which produce an oily material that prevents evaporation of the tear film. All four non-contact examinations are completed in four minutes, according to Quantel Medical.

Armed with this data, ophthalmologists will then be able to analyze the specific causes of dry eye in different patients, and offer the appropriate treatments.

Dynamic and growing market

"Dry eye is a real public health problem but the symptoms are often misunderstood," commented Jean-Marc Gendre of Quantel Medical. "As a multi-factorial pathology that results from damage to the tear film, this pathology is often under-diagnosed and underestimated. With LacryDiag, ophthalmologists are now able to diagnose the three tear film layers in a few minutes."

LacryDiag has been approved by the FDA and by the European health authorities, and is being launched simultaneously in Europe and in the United States.

Quantel Medical and the Keopsys Group, a vendor of pulsed fiber lasers, combined their operations into the Keopsys-Quantel Group in late 2017. In April 2018, as part of its quarterly financial release, Quantel indicated that it expected significant growth from its medical division during the coming year, highlighting a 15 percent sales growth to €31.7 million during 2017.

Also in April 2018, the Keopsys-Quantel group rebranded as Lumibird, which will ultimately become the name of the company's listed stock, replacing Quantel. The commercial brands Keopsys and Quantel will continue to operate on their designated markets, according to Lumibird at the time of the name change.

"The launch of LacryDiag is part of the group's growth strategy," said Marc Le Flohic, CEO of Lumibird. "This new product from our medical line has strong commercial synergies with our current eye diagnostic products. By its functionalities, it perfectly meets the needs of the very dynamic and growing market of dry eye treatment."