This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Freedom Meditech launches tool for detecting diabetes in the eye
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
SAN DIEGO — Freedom Meditech Inc. has launched the ClearPath DS-120 Lens Fluorescence Biomicroscope here at Optometry’s Meeting.
Cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January, the ClearPath DS-120 is a noninvasive tool designed to quickly and accurately measure autofluorescence through a 6-second scan of the crystalline lens of the eye, according to a company press release.
The scan does not require a blood draw or pupil dilation, the release said.
About 60 independent peer-reviewed studies have suggested that elevated lens autofluorescence may be an early indicator of the presence of diabetes, according to the company.
"With over 100 million eye exams now performed in the U.S. annually, the eye care provider is a gatekeeper for people within the age range when adult onset diabetes typically presents," explained Craig Misrach, chairman and CEO of Freedom Meditech. "The ClearPath DS-120 has the potential to change the standard optometry visit and increase the role of the optometrist in the management of their patients' overall health."
Misrach told Primary Care Optometry News that the optometrist can decide on whom to perform the screening.
Arthur A. Medina Jr., OD, who spoke on behalf of the company, said he administers an American Diabetes Association survey to his patients to determine who to screen. Of 67 patients he has screened, he found seven with a high propensity for diabetes and referred them to a primary care physician.
Disclosure: Medina is an equity owner of Optometric Medical Solutions, which has a consultant arrangement with Freedom Meditech.