The Innovations in Dry Eye Keep on Coming

HOT TOPIC

Coming Soon: a Once-Daily Supplement for Dry Eye

Bausch + Lomb announced statistically significant results from a company-sponsored clinical study in Frontiers in Ophthalmology evaluating the efficacy and safety of a novel daily nutritional supplement for dry eye. The supplement, which features a proprietary blend of ingredients, including lutein, zeaxanthin isomers, curcumin, and vitamin D3, is expected to launch in the United States under the brand name Blink NutriTears in Q3.

The study met both primary endpoints: change from baseline at day 56 in tear production (Schirmer test) and change from baseline at day 56 in ocular symptoms measured by OSDI score. It also met secondary endpoints, showing statistically significant improvements in tear-film break-up time, osmolarity, ocular surface health, and the presence of an inflammatory marker.

The prospective, randomized, double-masked, parallel, placebo-controlled study evaluated the efficacy and safety of NutriTears in 155 adult participants (aged 18-65; median age 42) with mild dry eye symptoms. Participants were randomized to receive either one NutriTears capsule or one placebo capsule daily for 56 days; artificial tear use was also recorded. (Read more here.)

My Two Cents

The first thing that stuck out to me here is that it is a single capsule taken daily. This could significantly improve my patients’ compliance with their oral supplement regimen, as the two dry eye supplements I currently recommend to patients are dosed three or four times daily. My patients continually gripe about the difficulty of taking that many pills each day. If B+L decides to take this directly to doctors' offices and allow it to be a doctor-driven product, and the real-world effects are as sound as they seem to be in the study, this product could really take off.

Second, is any other major eye care company innovating as much as B+L? I feel like I hear about a new product they’ve just bought or developed every month. Kudos to the B+L team for pushing eye care, notably in the dry eye market, forward. Your work is not going unnoticed!

OUTSIDE THE LANE

ChatGPT Could Help Triage Eye Conditions

According to Arun Thirunavaukarasu, MB BChir, an academic researcher who studied at the University of Cambridge, AI, specifically ChatGPT 4, could be used to triage patients with eye conditions. Cambridge University academics tested ChatGPT 4 against the knowledge of medics at different stages of their careers. The AI program scored 69% in a mock exam of 87 questions, outperforming other AI programs and even some human doctors. ChatGPT 4 was trained using 374 ophthalmology questions, and its responses were compared with those of five expert ophthalmologists, three trainee ophthalmologists, and two unspecialized junior doctors. Expert ophthalmologists scored a median of 76%, while trainees and junior doctors scored 59% and 43%, respectively.

Dr. Thirunavukarasu believes that AI could be deployed to determine which patients require immediate attention by an eye specialist, which could be treated by a general care practitioner, and which do not need any treatment. He stated that ChatGPT 4 is as proficient as expert clinicians at processing eye symptoms and signs to answer more complex questions.

My Two Cents

ChatGPT obviously won’t be replacing eye doctors anytime soon, but the premise of the study is quite important in areas such as the United Kingdom, where the wait times to be seen by eye care providers are pretty long. In these situations, having guidance from a primary care doctor is better than having no guidance, as many patients currently do. Thankfully, with eye care specialists relatively prevalent in the United States, the need for such programs is not as pressing.

CAN YOU RELATE

As I write this, I have just returned from lecturing in nearby Mobile, Alabama, to a great group of optometrists interested in incorporating new dry eye technology in their clinics. Immediately after the presentation, I did what most people do after being apart from their beloved digital device: I checked my phone—not for Facebook updates or pictures of what my friends ate for dinner, but for an update on my son and our new puppy, who were being watched for the night by a member of my staff.

My son, Brooks, turned 6 last week and asked for two things for his birthday: a puppy and a “real big” shop vacuum. What can I say? The boy loves a good shop vac and is fascinated by vacuums in general. 🤷🏻‍♂️ I let his mother handle the shop vac, because I felt the time was right for another puppy. Given our family had a great previous experience with the Goldendoodle breed, I decided we would get another “doodle.” Thankfully, I found a connection with some local breeders, and we were lucky enough to get second pick of a litter that became available on April 15th.

In one of those moments you’ll remember forever, my son and I picked out our newest puppy. Out of a litter of nine puppies, there were eight boys and one girl. The girl was already spoken for, so my son had his pick of eight different boy dogs. Seven were off-white/cream-colored doodles, and one was a light brown, or apricot color. The darkest colored dog immediately took a liking to Brooks, and I knew he would be ours. My son and I had no question about which dog we’d be getting. And that brings us to the newest member of the Davidson clan: Buddy Davidson! My son picked out the name—after the classic movie “Air Bud.”

Picking out this puppy was like my journey finding the right practice for me in optometry. I started off at a corporate optical that was extremely high volume, and although I enjoyed seeing many of the patients and refining my refraction technique, the attitude of the patients (oftentimes disrespectful) and the inability for me to dilate most of my patients made me realize it wasn’t the right fit. From the beginning, it didn’t feel like a job that would last forever. Next came my entrance into private practice. Although I could practice full scope and earn the respect of my patients, the culture of the practice made it apparent from the first day that it probably wouldn’t last. Then came my interview with Williamson Eye Center and its leadership team of Charles H. Williamson, MD, and Blake K. Williamson, MD. I knew from that first moment that this is where I needed to be. There was no question about it—just like there was no question about which dog Brooks and I would be getting. In both instances, both my gut and brain agreed with the same choice. Here’s to hoping that the next big decision you make will be as easy as these two choices were for me!