Abstract
Purpose: :
Meibomian glands secrete lipids that form a thin oily layer on the tear film. Meibography is a technique used to assess the morphologic characteristics of the meibomian gland. In 2008, we developed a noninvasive meibography system equipped with a slit-lamp. Because the types of slit-lamps available vary, however, the non-contact meibography system cannot be used at all facilities. Furthermore, the slit-lamp based system cannot be used to examine meibomian glands in patients who cannot be secured to the chin-rest, such as infants or inpatients with severe systemic diseases.To observe the structure of meibomian glands in subjects of all ages, inpatients and outpatients, we developed a novel noninvasive mobile pen-shaped meibography system. The purpose of this study is to examine the usefulness of a newly developed noninvasive mobile meibography system.
Methods: :
This study evaluated a newly developed noninvasive mobile pen-shaped meibography system that uses an infrared light emitting diode as the light source and a highly sensitive complementary metal oxide semiconductor image camera. The images were recorded digitally. The utility of this system was compared with that of the non-contact infrared meibography system we previously developed for examination of the upper and lower eyelids in 20 healthy volunteers (range, 2-91 years of age) and 23 patients with meibomian gland dysfunction, 17 patients with dry eye that wore contact lenses, and 14 patients with allergic conjunctivitis accompanied by itching. Quantitative analysis was performed to examine the similarity of the meibomian gland images by the two methods.
Results: :
Using the newly developed non-invasive mobile pen-shaped meibography system, clear images of the meibomian glands were obtained from infants to the elderly. The images were of similar quality and quantity as the non-contact infrared meibography system equipped with a slit lamp. The percentages of meibomian gland area were similar when compared between the mobile pen-shaped meibography (56.7%) and non-contact meibography (61.1%) attached with a slit lamp.
Conclusions: :
The newly developed non-invasive mobile pen-shaped meibography system provided images of meibomian glands with a similar quality as the non-contact meibography system equipped with a slit-lamp.We expect that the use of this mobile pen-shaped meibography system will be adopted worldwide by ophthalmologic clinics and will contribute to elucidate the pathologic mechanisms of meibomian gland disease.
Keywords: cornea: tears/tear film/dry eye • clinical research methodology • eyelid