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Science for Sapiens A year in research (2024)

he use of the maximum capacity to ge-
nerate tears as a parameter to diagnose
dry eye disease is the objective of a study
carried out by the group of ocular neuro-
biology of the Institute of Neurosciences,
a joint centre of the University Miguel
Hernández of Elche (UMH) and the Natio-
T nal Spanish Research Council(CSIC). The
paper, published in the journal The Ocular Surface, propo-
ses eye stimulation with a gas, specifically carbon dioxide
(CO ), to determine the maximum tear capacity of patients. A
2
new device, called i-Onion, has been used for this research.
The dry eye is a disease that appears almost spontaneously
with age and has many possible causes. Some experts point
out that dry eyes occur when the epithelium of the cornea
is damaged and tear production decreases, which ends up
causing an alteration in the ocular nerves. However, the
group of Ocular Neurobiology of the Institute for Neuros-
ciences UMH-CSIC has found evidence in the laboratory
that indicates that the process also occurs inversely; that is,
the nerves of the eye are altered, and their abnormal func-
tioning ends up causing changes in the corneal tissue and
decreasing the rate of lacrimation.

People affected by this disease suffer enormous complica-
tions in carrying out daily activities. “It may seem like a ba-
nal alteration, but the fact that a person does not produce
enough tears significantly decreases their quality of life be-
cause the slightest gesture of closing the eyelid is tremen-
dously painful”, explains UMH Professor Juana Gallar.
The UMH researcher points out that one of the major com-
plications of this disease is the lack of quantitative tools for i-Onion device. Source: i-onion.com
its diagnosis since, so far, this process is usually carried out
through interviews with patients. To fill this gap, researchers
have determined that the patients’ maximum tear rate by sti-
mulating their eyes with CO may be an effective indicator
2
for assessing the risk of developing the disease. “During the
research, we detected that there were people capable of ge-
nerating a huge response to the stimulation, but there were
others that showed a smaller response, and these are likely
the ones who, although now they do not show it, in the futu-
re will end up developing dry eye”, points out the expert in
ocular neurobiology.
One of the major
The study was conducted using a new device designed by
this research group in collaboration with the spin-off com- complications of this
pany Tearful. This device is i-Onion, a fully portable tool
that allows the controlled stimulation of the eye with CO disease is the lack of
2
without the need to connect it to an external gas source or quantitative tools for its
power supply. In addition, it does not require any specific
infrastructure, which allows its use on an outpatient basis diagnosis
in any clinic.

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