TV Show to Feature LipiFlow,Only U.S. Food and Drug Administration-Cleared Treatment Available for Leading Cause of Dry Eye
MORRISVILLE, N.C.─May 3, 2013─TearScience®, a privately held medical device company, today announced that its LipiFlow® treatment for evaporative dry eye will be featured on the syndicated television talk show, The Doctors, on May 6, 2013 (check local listings). The show will air on local affiliates in the U.S. and Canada. Check www.thedoctorstv.com for show times in each market.
More than 23 million Americans suffer from dry eye disease. With the majority (86 percent) suffering from evaporative dry eye, this represents a more than $10 billion market potential in North America. TearScience has developed and launched its system to address this underserved patient population. The system includes the LipiView® Ocular Surface Interferometer and the LipiFlow® Thermal Pulsation System. Evaporative dry eye occurs when Meibomian glands in the eyelids become obstructed and do not secrete the oily lipids needed to keep the water portion of tears from evaporating too quickly. LipiView measures the absolute thickness of the lipid layer of a dry eye patient’s tear film while LipiFlow treats the root cause of evaporative dry eye disease by unblocking obstructed Meibomian glands during an in-office procedure. The goal of treating evaporative dry eye by unblocking the Meibomian glands is to allow the glands to resume their natural production of lipids required for a healthy tear film and ocular surface.
Dry eye is one of the most common complaints from patients visiting eye care professionals. LipiFlow improves dry eye patients’ Meibomian gland secretions, with the goal of reducing symptoms and improving patients’ quality of life.
“I have suffered with dry eye for more than 15 years and have tried numerous therapies to manage my chronic condition,” said Angela Megerdichian of Laguna Beach, California who was the guest that participated in the LipiFlow treatment in The Doctors episode. “I used to put wetting drops in first thing in the morning and at least eight times throughout each day. LipiFlow® is the only thing that has given me relief. I highly recommend it.”
John A. Hovanesian, MD is a practicing ophthalmologist at Harvard Eye Associates in Laguna Hills, California. An investigator in a current study to evaluate LipiFlow’s duration of effect, Dr. Hovanesian currently offers the LipiFlow treatment commercially at his eye care practice.
“Following a thorough examination of Angela’s condition including the use of TearScience’s LipiView, which measures lipids at the sub-molecular level, and a Meibomian gland evaluation, I confirmed that she had evaporative dry eye and would benefit from treatment,” commented Dr. Hovanesian. “It was a great experience to treat Angela on the show and help to improve her quality of life. My experience has been consistent with results from earlier clinical trials whereby 79 percent of patients who received a single LipiFlow treatment reported improvements in overall dry eye symptoms. While not a cure for this chronic, progressive disease, these results are unprecedented in dry eye treatments.”
LipiFlow is part of TearScience’s complete system for assessing and treating evaporative dry eye. The system includes the LipiView Ocular Surface Interferometer that captures digital images of a dry eye patient’s tear film measuring the absolute thickness of the oily lipid layer. Physicians can use LipiView®, a dry eye symptoms survey, and a Meibomian gland evaluation among other things for a comprehensive dry eye assessment.
“I am pleased that TearScience is being featured on The Doctors,” said Brian Regan, the company’s vice president of marketing and market development. “Many additional dry eye sufferers will now know about our breakthrough system to identify and treat the root cause of their discomfort with TearScience’s LipiFlow®, making a real difference for them.”
Finding a LipiFlow Provider
The LipiFlow treatment is available from more than 150 eye care professionals in North America. To find an eye care practice that offers LipiFlow, visit TearScience’s website at http://www.lipiflow.com.
About TearScience, Inc.
Headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina, TearScience has pioneered devices that provide significant clinical improvement in the treatment of evaporative dry eye. Of the millions of dry eye sufferers worldwide, approximately 86 percent have evaporative dry eye, which is caused by Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (MGD) and a lipid deficiency of the eye’s natural tear film. The Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society (TFOS) workshop, involving two years of work by 50 leading experts from around the world, concluded that MGD is an under-estimated condition and is very likely the most frequent cause of dry eye disease. Common symptoms of the disease include eye irritation, dryness, redness, tiredness, and visual disturbances. TearScience’s integrated, in-office system enables eye care professionals to effectively address a root cause of evaporative dry eye, obstructed Meibomian glands. For additional information, visit www.tearscience.com.