The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 19, 2018
Filed:
May. 08, 2017
Tearscience, Inc., Morrisville, NC (US);
Donald R. Korb, Boston, MA (US);
William L. Weber, Olivebridge, NY (US);
Randal B. Chinnock, Southbridge, MA (US);
Benjamin T. Gravely, Raleigh, NC (US);
Stephen M. Grenon, Durham, NC (US);
TearScience, Inc., Morrisville, NC (US);
Abstract
Background reduction apparatuses and methods of Ocular Surface Interferometry (OSI) employing polarization are disclosed for measuring a tear film layer thickness (TFLT) of the ocular tear film, including lipid layer thickness (LLT) and/or aqueous layer thickness (ALT) and can be used to evaluate and potentially diagnosis dry eye syndrome (DES). In certain disclosed embodiments, a multi-wavelength light source can be controlled to illuminate the ocular tear film. Light emitted from the multi-wavelength light source undergoes optical wave interference interactions in the tear film. An imaging device can be focused on the lipid layer of the tear film to capture optical wave interference interactions of specularly reflected light from the tear film combined with a background signal(s) in at least one image. The at least one image can be processed and analyzed to measure a tear film layer thickness (TFLT), including lipid layer thickness (LLT) and/or aqueous layer thickness (ALT).