A universal eye drop adherence monitor to measure and improve adherence to ocular medications

Project Summary Abstract
Universal Adherence is an emerging medical device company dedicated to improving adherence to ocular
medications through innovative technical solutionsOur proposed Devers Drop DeviceDwill accurately
track when a patient removes an eye drop bottle capcommunicate usage data wirelessly to a database that
researchers can accessand send alerts to patients when a medication is dueSignificant loss of vision related
quality of life can occur when patients do not adhere to their prescribed eye drop medicationsWe hypothesize
that a device that tracks eye drop usage and sends dosage alerts will improve medication adherencewhich
would be a tremendous benefit to patients suffering from ocular diseases such as glaucomaVision loss from
glaucoma is preventable with medication but accurate adherence to eye drops is often poor among patientsIn
addition to helping patients maintain their dosing schedulethe Dwill also provide adherence information to
researchers and eye care providerswhich will help to understand poor treatment outcomes and to develop
improved treatment strategiesIn this Phase I grant applicationwe are proposing engineering and software
improvements to develop the next generation of the DdevicePrototypes of the device will be produced and
used in a smallrandomized clinical trial with glaucoma patients to evaluate whether the Dimproves
medication adherence and to receive patient feedback on the deviceAt the end of Phase I fundingwe expect
to have an unobtrusiveuniversal device that will accurately track when an eye drop medication is used and
alert patients when they miss a doseThe device will be marketed to researchers and clinicians who are
interested in studying glaucoma adherenceResults of the Phase I project will help guide the third generation
of engineering and software improvements for a Phase II application to develop a device for patients and their
families to improve glaucoma self careThe clinical benefits of our device in improving adherence will initially
be assessed and targeted towards glaucomabut the ability of the device to be attached to all FDA approved
eye drop bottle caps will make this device attractive to all patients that need consistent daily use of eye drops Project Narrative
Glaucoma is the second leading cause of visual impairment worldwideEye drop medications reduce vision
loss from glaucoma by at leastbut eye drops must be taken every day to be effectiveHoweveradherence to eye drop treatment is poor with onlyof patients regularly taking their prescribed eye dropsWe are developing the Devers Drop DeviceDeye drop monitor to accurately measure eye drop cap
removal and to improve eye drop taking behaviorThis device could prevent millions of patients from losing
vision due to glaucoma