Portable Eye Tonometer

Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can cause vision loss and blindness by generating irreversible damage to the optic nerve. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), glaucoma is the second cause of late onset blindness in the world, and is the primary cause of blindness for people over the age of 60. In 2020 about 76 million people between the ages of 40 to 80 years were detected with glaucoma, of which almost 8 million people could have been prevented or have not yet been treated.

It is also more frequent in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. People of African and Latin American descent also have high rates of glaucoma. It is estimated that in Mexico there are about 1.5 million people affected by this disease and there are up to 50 thousand cases of blindness due to late detection.

There are two type of glaucoma:

• Primary Open Angle Glaucoma: This is the most common type of Glaucoma, it is painless, its evolution is slow and can cause vision loss before detection. Symptoms, if they do appear, can include: increased eye pressure, gradual loss of peripheral vision and increased tunnel vision in advanced stages. 

• Closed-Angle Glaucoma: Causes severe eye and headache pain, nausea and vomiting, blurred vision, distorted light, and red eyes.

Glaucoma often progresses asymptomatically and remains undetected until the later stages. That is why the importance of early treatment, which can often stop the damage and prevent vision loss. In the standard model, it is particularly well established that an increase in intraocular pressure (IOP) increases the risk of glaucoma progression. Therefore one of the current methods of identifying glaucoma is intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement, which can be done using a tonometer.

A number of different tonometers have been developed over the years to measure IOP. Most of the existing tonometers, however, can only be used in clinical settings by health care professionals. But, the IOP is not a constant value but fluctuates throughout the day with a 24-hour periodicity and hence necessitates measurement outside typical health care professional office hours. 

Even though current methods of measuring disease activity are powerful in describing the functional and structural changes in glaucomatous eyes. There is still a need for a novel tool to detect glaucoma earlier and more accurately.

In addition, today the burden of visual impairments (such as glaucoma) is not evenly distributed. Insufficient access to eye care is one of the main causes of this unequal distribution, for example, rural populations face greater obstacles in accessing eye care due to the distance they must travel to assist a hospital, as well as the expenses involved in treating glaucoma.

Access to quality eye care is an important factor in the risk of glaucoma progression and the results of its treatment. It is estimated that around 111.8 million people will be affected by glaucoma by 2040. And if this projected increase is not accompanied by greater access to eye care services, the number of people with glaucoma and blindness will increase substantially especially in third world countries.

The World Health Organization (WHO) points out in its World Report on Vision that in order to achieve goal 3.8 of the SDGs, it is necessary to provide quality eye care services in accordance with the needs of the population, and the cost of ophthalmological interventions cannot expose the user to catastrophic expenses.

In conclusion, for earlier diagnosis of glaucoma, there is a need for patient-operated tonometers that are easy to use, provide reliable IOP measurements, and are affordable in cost.

My solution consists of a portable and accessible patient-operated tonometer called E.T. (Eye Tonometer) easy to use, affordable in cost and aiming to be reliable. That with an air puff measures the pressure of the eye (IOP) to provide an early diagnosis, prevention, and ongoing screening that facilitates the treatment of glaucoma disease. 

In addition, E.T., works with a mobile application that receives the results of the IOP and stores them in a digital file shared to his ophthalmologist. Thus, the user can have constant monitoring and prompt attention from his doctor.

The objective of my solution is to democratize and make visual monitoring services more accessible, offering integrated and person-centered eye care. As well as change the perception about the importance of visual health.

Both E.T., and the mobile application are focused on improving the quality of life of:

• Glaucoma patients 

• Patients at risk of glaucoma:

  • Developing country populations  

  • Older Age Groups (over 60 years)

  • Family Members with Glaucoma

  • Diabetics

  • People with high blood pressure

  • Myopic and hyperopic

Specifically, the profile of people who are sought to impact, are those over 60 years of age who suffer from glaucoma or are within the risk groups, so they must periodically attend the ophthalmologist to get monitored. However, they have difficulties in following up on their treatment due to travel distance, financial costs, or the invasiveness of regular tonometers. They are also disappointed by the news of their illness and fearful of losing their sight.

My solution will give these people a portable and accessible tool with which they can remotely monitor their IOP, improving their treatment and reducing economic and travel difficulties. At the same time it will make them feel more confident with their medical follow-up and less fearful. Likewise, it will allow ophthalmologists to provide a better health service to their patients. 

I am currently studying for a physician degree at Tec de Monterrey. I have always had the attitude to help others. My grandfather was an excellent person and doctor, he cultivated in me the habit of working with passion and resilience. My dad is also a doctor so I grew up surrounded by a health environment. And even though I have also been interested in other areas in which I have excelled, such as: humanities, sciences and robotics, business, art and culture. What most raises my passion and my desire to help others is medicine.

I realized about the problem of glaucoma disease when, before entering college, I accompanied my father (who is an ophthalmologist) to his work, so that I could learn more about the health area. Over time, I observed how many of his glaucoma patients became disillusioned with the diagnosis of their disease and did not accomplish their treatment due to long travel distances (they lived in rural areas), socioeconomic levels, availability (their work did not allow them to attend constantly to the doctor), or they simply found invasive some of the methods used for their treatment. At the same time, I observed my father 's desperation by wanting to provide quality medical care to his patients. I had the opportunity to confirm these hypotheses by interviewing various patients with glaucoma and ophthalmologists.

In addition to saving lives, my biggest goal is to change the perspective with which we see medicine impulsing it through technology. With this mindset, in the year 2020, I joined my two passions, medicine and technology, to start this project. With which I obtained the 2nd national place in the PrepApps 2020 contest, as well as the opportunity to course an entrepreneurship program; currently I have an Entrepreneurship Scholarship from Tec de Monterrey, which promotes the development of scientific-technological based projects.

Although the path has not been easy, with the support of my father, Dr. Arturo Sánchez Vanzzini (Ophthalmologist and project medical adviser) and my uncle, Marco Magaña (electronics engineer and project technical adviser), I formalized this idea to build a prototype.

Given the nature of the project and that I am starting university, I need support in more technical issues (both health and technology) as well as research.

I also need support to place and validate my business model in order to position the project. Finally I am looking for advice or guidance on legal topics and regulatory processes.

By the end of the year, I plan to have an MVP of the portable tonometer, which, with the support of my father, I will test under consent in ophthalmologist clinics and eye health organizations (with which I have already made contact). Also I plan to:

• Establish contact with potential partners and investors

• Initiate a strategy to carry out the research protocol

• Analyze what I need to constitutionalize me as a company

• Quantify how much it will cost me the year 2023

Within 5 years I plan to become a company, carry out the legal and regulatory processes to establish myself in Mexico and scale to Latin America, as well as considering an international scope. 

Partner with potential distributors of my product and promote campaigns that teach people about health prevention (so that my project promotes an integral attention).