Aussie manufacturer Medmont is matching the rise of dry eye disease with a powerful device to aid in its diagnosis, treatment and monitoring.
Mr Jason Anderson is making a big call.
To many in the ophthalmic community at the moment, it seems that every second word is ‘myopia’.
That is not surprising given myopia appears to be tightening its grip on many parts of the world and is starting to do the same in Australia, spurring many into action Down Under.
Anderson, the Asia-Pacific sales manager for Australian optical device designer and manufacturer Medmont, believes intense focus is appropriate, given the potential for myopia to rob the vision of the country’s youngest.
But he says there is another condition with a broader reach and potentially greater impact – dry eye disease
“Myopia, it’s an area we are heavily invested in with our corneal topography technology – and we are seeing a lot of studies and articles on myopia management right now,” he says.
“But dry eye, I think, is almost on par and almost jumping ahead of that now. We know the demographic that myopia affects – it’s usually young children because of too much screen time, but dry eye affects right across the board.”
Anderson knows what he’s talking about.
He’s travelled the Asia-Pacific region extensively for more than a decade educating eyecare practitioners about Medmont’s locally developed and manufactured corneal topographers and perimeters. In fact, he’s off to Vietnam the day after his interview with Insight.
But it’s more than airports, hotel rooms and conference suites that he’s got to experience over those 13 years.
Anderson has spoken with countless practitioners, clinicians and industry leaders in those areas, and observed the rise of both myopia and dry eye in that time.
He believes these eye conditions are a threat to a large number of people, but they are also an opportunity for practitioners to make a meaningful impact on the lives of those patients, while carving out a more clinical, healthcare-driven niche that will benefit their business.
“I think a lot of practitioners are looking to differentiate from the larger chain stores, to look at different ways of modelling their business and giving a primary healthcare function.”
And he believes Medmont devices are the best way for those practices to make the most of that function, and build their expertise in both myopia, specialty lens fitting and dry eye management.
Dry eye diagnostics may be a newer offering to come from the engineers within Medmont’s Melbourne headquarters, but it’s just the latest development in more than 30 years of innovation, which started in 1989 with a visual field scanner.
The company moved into topography in 1997 and developed the Meridia device in 2019, launching it in Australia the following year.
It now offers two models: the Classic and the Professional – or Pro – which also has a comprehensive suite of dry eye software.
The Classic builds on the gold-standard corneal topography in Medmont’s E300, with enhancements including a larger colour field-of-view and ergonomic quick keys for navigating software.
It aids the practitioner in orthokeratology, early keratoconus screening and other corneal pathology screening, and provides accurate measurements for the designing and fitting of custom contact lenses.
The Meridia Pro builds even further on that innovation, with a strong emphasis on software and tools to help with dry eye diagnosis and management, including tear meniscus height measurement, tear film analysis, imaging of the meibomian glands, and fluorescein imaging and video offerings.
This has proved a boon for both practices and their patients, says Anderson.
It says much about the rapid rise of dry eye and acknowledgement of the disease as a growing burden to many that the Aussie company has added this extra functionality in just the last five years.
But, as Anderson points out, that five years has seen plenty of development and innovation, making the Meridia Pro a powerful machine for practice owners – especially those engaged in orthokeratology myopia control and advanced contact lenses – to elevate their service offering with dry eye screening.
But the Pro goes beyond pure analysis to also support dry eye treatment, the progress of that treatment, and patient compliance.
“The device has a function for imaging meibomian glands and helping the practitioner to detect instances of gland drop-out and blockages,” says Anderson.
“The use of infrared is useful for imaging the lower and the upper glands. You can enhance the glands as well for further clarity with a contrast stretch function,” he says.
“It help gives a patient a deeper understanding of what a blocked gland is, so it’s great for patient education.”
“We’ve got a tear film analysis as well – it’s a non-fluorescence capability, so you don’t introduce any additives to the tear film. That’s a great benefit because you’re not compromising or changing the structure of your tear film by putting fluorescence in it.”
The Pro provides an overall understanding of how much tear break-up is occurring in the central seven millimetres of the cornea.
“We know that the peripheral breaks up first when you’re looking at tear film analysis, so we concentrate on that central area for any data.”
All of that helps the practitioner diagnose dry eye, but the Pro goes further, allowing them to create and document a treatment plan, including the use of consumables to help manage the disease.
That functionality is not just for the practitioner. Patients also benefit from comprehensive, easy-to-understand reports on their condition and its progress, which includes video.
“The tear film analysis automatically assesses the tear film dynamic and break up time by capturing three to four topography maps per second. From that, it creates a video, which is beneficial for patient education,” Anderson says
That ‘education’ through images, video and reporting keeps the patient on track with their treatment and coming back to the clinic to monitor that progress.
“I think having that visual representation of the condition keeps everyone on the same level,” says Anderson.
“If they can see where they’re starting and see where they’re getting to, I think that’s an amazing thing for the patient and the practice, and that compliance generates income.”
While other devices may offer reporting features, Anderson says feedback from practices consistently highlights the superior quality of Meridia Pro’s imaging.
“The other significant advantage when using the Meridia Pro is, when you’re looking at glands, you need to flip the eyelids, and because our device has got a smaller head to it, it’s quite easy for you to reach around and turn that patient lid over, whereas other devices have larger heads that can make it quite difficult to manipulate the patient’s lids.”
Practices with the Meridia Pro benefit from regular software updates, ensuring their device continues to evolve alongside clinical needs.
For Anderson, that adaptability is key: as awareness of dry eye grows across all demographics, so too does the opportunity for practitioners to expand their role in patient care.
‘We’re seeing strong and growing interest in dry eye,’ he says. ‘It’s an area where practices can make a real impact, and the Meridia Pro helps them do that with clarity and confidence.”
