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Home-based device maintained, strengthened effects of intense pulsed light treatment for dry eye
MILAN — A new home-use device allows patients to better maintain the effects of intense pulsed light treatment for dry eye, according to a speaker here.
Intense pulsed light (IPL, DermaMed) as a treatment for meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD)-related dry eye was developed by Rolando Toyos, MD, in collaboration with DermaMed and has been gaining popularity in recent years.
Rolando Toyos
“There are 200 surgeons now doing the ocular procedure worldwide. When I started 12 years ago, there was nothing out there, and now we have 123,000 articles on IPL,” Toyos said at the annual joint meeting of Ocular Surgery News and the Italian Society of Ophthalmology.
IPL uses xenon light at a wavelength of 500 nm. The light penetrates the epidermis into the dermal layer and closes the abnormal blood vessels that secrete inflammatory mediators.
“In this way, then, the glands can start working normally. By increasing mitochondrial activity, the treatment also stimulates the glands to function better,” Toyos said.
The new device for home treatment was also developed by Toyos and should be available on the market before the end of the year. It uses a different wavelength in the 600 nm range, which is safe for patients to use at home.
“The treatment can be performed twice a week to stimulate the glands and better maintain the effect of IPL,” Toyos said.
Disclosure: Toyos is a consultant for DermaMed and Quantum Ocular Bioscience.