Application Note: Modification of Force Test Stand for Glaucoma Research
J.A. King is Now Cross Precision Measurement!
Same team, same expertise. This case study was performed by our precision measurement team before becoming Cross Precision Measurement. Learn more about our history.
Dr. Daniel Moore is an Assistant Professor in the Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Department at a major research university. He specializes in glaucoma, an eye disease which is due to several different factors. The only cause of the disease that is treatable is eye pressure and according to Moore, if you can lower the pressure in the eye, you can stop the progress of the disease.
“The vast majority of patients, if they take and can tolerate their eye drops, they’ll do okay. However, studies show that compliance with therapy is 70%, at best,” said Moore.
There has been a lot of focus on the side effects and other reasons why people may not comply with their treatment regime, but no one had focused on the bottles themselves. Anecdotally, lots of patients complain about the drops being hard to dispense. “It’s one big barrier that we haven’t evaluated before but it’s one that clearly patients are complaining about,” said Moore. Glaucoma also tends to be a disease which affects older people, who may not have as much strength in their fingers as younger patients.
To measure the force required to dispense the drops, Moore contacted multiple vendors and a manufacturer and was eventually was put in touch with J.A. King. Said Kevin Hatch, J.A. King’s Director of Engineering, “He was obviously very passionate about doing the study. I had the feeling that no one else was listening to his needs, especially in terms of the different bottles.”
Force test stand for measuring glaucoma medications
Want to share or download this case study? Here’s a downloadable PDF copy:
J.A. King Case Study: Glaucoma Research Study