From June 20 to 22, 2024, the 14th Glaucoma Academic Conference of the Chinese Medical Association is held in Qingdao, Shandong. The main topics of the conference are the diagnosis and treatment technology of glaucoma, the new progresses of drug treatment, the innovations and latest developments of surgical techniques, etc. Through lectures, seminars and case analyses, the experts attending the conference exchange the latest research results and clinical experience in the field of glaucoma.
IntelliMicro is in the limelight with its star products. It gathers with ophthalmologists and industry colleagues at home and board to discuss the latest trends, innovative technologies and clinical practices of glaucoma research, as well as the new research, new technology, new product and new future in the field of glaucoma diagnosis and treatment. It also calls on the whole society to pay attention to the prevention and treatment of glaucoma, and regularly conduct IOP testing to prevent a “minor disease” from becoming a “major disaster”.
In addition, the conference also set up a special medical equipment exhibition area, displaying a number of the latest glaucoma diagnostic and therapeutic equipment, including IntelliMicro® Rebound Tonometer. The unique design and convenient operation mode of the tonometer have won the unanimous praise of the experts and industry colleagues attending the meeting.
Glaucoma——the “invisible killer” of vision that cannot be ignored
Glaucoma, the second eye disease leading to blindness in the world, is known as the “invisible killer” of vision. It is quietly affecting tens of millions of people around the world with its potential and progressive ability to damage vision. Unlike cataracts, which can be effectively treated with surgery, the vision damage caused by glaucoma is often irreversible. The vision cannot be restored once the optic nerve is damaged.
As of 2020, about 80 million people worldwide suffered from glaucoma, and the number of glaucoma patients in China had reached nearly 22 million, and these data are increasing continuously. However, it is worrying that about 90% of glaucoma patients in China do not know that they have glaucoma, or even have never heard of glaucoma, the disease is easy to be ignored as there are no obvious symptoms in its early stage, it usually be found when the vision is seriously damaged.
The diagnosis of glaucoma requires two conditions, high IOP and damage to the visual function of the fundus, so glaucoma is not just high IOP. Glaucoma is actually a kind of optic neuropathy, and it causes progressive damage to the optic nerve due to the IOP exceeding the tolerance of the optic nerve.
However, the tolerance of IOP for each person’s optic nerve is different, which is why some people may experience optic nerve damage even within the normal IOP range (10mmGh to 21mmGh) (called “normal-tension glaucoma”), while others are able to keep their optic nerve intact at high IOP (called “ocular hypertension”). Therefore, glaucoma does not equate to high IOP, it refers to damage to the optic nerve caused by intolerance of IOP.
The stability of IOP mainly depends on the fluid circulation mechanism inside the eye. The fluid in the eye is not a pool of stagnant water, but a place where water is produced and discharged. A stable IOP is maintained by a dynamic balance of the production and discharge of aqueous humor. If the balance of the production and discharge of aqueous humor is disturbed, it may lead to an increase in IOP, which in turn may lead to glaucoma.
According to the state of the chamber angle of the patient’s eye and the pathogenesis, glaucoma can be classified into two most common types: angle-closure glaucoma and open-angle glaucoma. Angle-closure glaucoma is usually caused by the closure of the chamber angle, resulting in a blockage of the discharging of aqueous humor, which leads to a sharp increase in IOP. The patients will have sudden diminution of vision, swelling of eye, ipsilateral headache, and even nausea and vomiting. The treatment of the disease is delayed as it is sometimes misdiagnosed as encephalitis, neuropathic headache or gastroenteritis; Open-angle glaucoma is more insidious and usually causes a slow increase in IOP due to a gradual decrease of the drainage function of the trabecular meshwork. As the symptoms of open-angle glaucoma are not obvious in the early stages, the disease is often progressed to an advanced stage by the time the patient notices a vision problem.
Therefore, the main purpose of glaucoma treatment is to control IOP, including inhibiting the production of aqueous humor and promoting the outflow of aqueous humor. Thus daily, regular and household monitoring of IOP is particularly important.
A key tool to determine the effectiveness of glaucoma treatment —— IOP monitoring
All in all, glaucoma is a serious and irreversible eye disease which lead to blindness, it causes great damage to visual function,Therefore, we should pay attention to it, achieve early detection, early finding and early treatment to the greatest extent, and save visual function as much as possible. The control of IOP is crucial in this process. By lowering the IOP, the pressure on the optic nerve can be reduced which can slow the further damage and the progression of the disease.
Therefore, the importance of IOP detection equipment is self-evident in the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma. The use of convenient and accurate IOP detection equipment can provide accurate IOP data for determining the effectiveness of treatment for ocular hypertension and glaucoma, and provide a rapid detection method for evaluating the recovery of patients after eye surgery; at the same time, through regular IOP monitoring, doctors and patients can detect abnormal IOP fluctuations in a timely manner, so as to take appropriate treatment measures to control the progression of the disease.
With the development of science and technology, IOP testing equipment not only should have high-precision measurement functions, but also should pay more attention to the user experience, convenience and affordability. Our company’s IntelliMicro® Rebound Tonometer adopts a new generation of electromagnetic rebound technology. It is a professional Class II handheld medical device for medical/household use which supports self-testing and can meet the user need for 24-hour IOP monitoring. It provides a more economical, fast and convenient means of real-time IOP detection for the evaluation of the treatment effect of patients with abnormal IOP, glaucoma and eye surgery, as well as the diagnosis and treatment of doctors.
Currently, most people do not have enough understanding of IOP, and IOP equipment is far less popular and convenient than blood pressure monitors and blood glucose meters. There is a long way to go for the prevention and treatment of glaucoma and the normalization of IOP testing. IOP control and eye health problems should arouse great concern of all the people, thus we call on the whole society to attach great importance to the prevention and treatment of glaucoma, conduct IOP testing regularly, and do a good job of being the first person to protect our eye health, so as to prevent a “minor disease” from becoming a “major disaster”.