January is Glaucoma Awareness Month. If you’re a glaucoma patient, this article, brought to you by the Glaucoma Research Foundation, tells why it’s important for you and your doctor to monitor your intraocular pressure (IOP). Understanding how your individual pressure changes over time can help you feel confident that your treatment is working effectively.
Why Monitoring IOP is Important
IOP fluctuates constantly, between doctor’s visits and even throughout the day. The more frequently your IOP is measured, the better overall picture your doctor will have of your eye pressure fluctuations. This may be helpful information for measuring the effectiveness of your treatment regimen. Currently, the most common approach to getting this information is to measure your eye pressures in the clinic at different times of day over several visits. With recent advances in this field, eye pressure measurement is now feasible outside the clinic setting.
“Smart” Contact Lenses
As eye pressure fluctuates, the curvature of the front part of the eye changes, which the “smart” contact lenses can measure. This signals a wireless device that records the changes and indirectly shows eye pressure changes over time, which may correspond with the progression of glaucoma. The Sensimed Triggerfish® Sensor “smart” contact lens has recently been approved in the United States by the FDA for monitoring eye pressure.
