Recognized Markets

  CUSTOMER SEGMENTS

"Niche re-segmentation looks at an existing market and asks whether some segment of this market would buy a new product designed to address more specific needs. Can some sizable portion of the market be convinced that a characteristic of the new product is radical enough to change the rules and shape of an existing market." - The Startup Owners Manual by: Steve Blank and Bob Dorf

Estimated Total Market Size: Our patents secure our place in the growing vision care market, which was valued last year at

125 Billion dollars, and will be 192 Billion by 2026.

 

• Ophthalmologists and Optometrists to be used as a therapeutic to achieve more patient compliant eyelid closure for the healing corneal epithelial defects, treating Lagophthalmos, keratopathy, and after some eye surgeries, as well as a treatment for other corneal health issues.
• Pediatricians to address lazy eye and other eye health issues that may be addressed by eyelid closure.
• In the ICU to achieve eyelid closure for patients in medically induced comas, as to avoid cornea damage. Due to insufficient eyelid closure corneal defects occur in 20–42% of ICU patients, and 60% of those sedated for 48 hours.
• Oculoplastic Surgeons
• OVER THE COUNTER - OTC
• Hospital Groups
• Distributors
• Pharmaceutical companies to accompany their eye medicines. There have been studies that show that eyelid closure enhances the delivery and increasing effectiveness of some eye medicines.
• The Military - Defense Health Agency (DHA) and the VA
• Anesthesiologists for use during some sedated surgeries. While the device is applied it achieves affective eyelid closure and allows for artificial tears or medicine to be added during surgeries, to keep the eye moist avoiding exposure keratopathy and corneal blindness in some cases, and the resulting lawsuits and monetary loss. Simply pulling down the lower eyelid with one finger, while the upper lid remains in the closed position, and add fluid or drops.
• There are also the Global Markets
• If 10% of the population of the US, at some point has an eye injury, eye surgery, or eye health issue that requires eyelid closure, or will benefit from comfortable eye closure therapy, we estimate a market of at least 33,000,000 people.
•  Current US Population 2021 is, 332,542,637

"The importance of eyelid closure and nasolacrimal occlusion following the ocular instillation of topical glaucoma medications, and the need for the universal inclusion of one of these techniques in all patient treatments and clinical studies."

Flach AJ. Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc. 2008.

Abstract

PURPOSE: To review the effects of nasolacrimal occlusion (NLO) and eyelid closure (ELC) on the ocular and systemic absorption of topically applied glaucoma medications and emphasize the need for the universal application of these techniques during patient treatment and in clinical studies of topically applied glaucoma medications.

METHODS: Following a review of data suggesting great clinical benefit from NLO and ELC, the absence of inclusion of these simple techniques in published studies of topical glaucoma medications is identified. The effect of this oversight on these studies is noted with reference to each of the 5 major groups of glaucoma medications.

RESULTS: A review of the literature suggests that NLO and ELC improve intraocular penetration of topically applied glaucoma medications and discourage systemic absorption. The US Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health discourage the inclusion of these techniques in studies of the efficacy and toxicity of topically applied glaucoma medications. Consequently, all glaucoma studies reported in the literature lack the inclusion of these techniques for 5 minutes. This omission has major implications for patient informed consent, study protocol consistency, and the value of clinical studies, and directly affects the therapeutic index of glaucoma medications in unpredictable and undesirable ways. The undesirable influence on the therapeutic index of each drug influences the safety and efficacy and has implications for the cost of medical treatments, the reproducibility of clinical study results, and dosing regimens, including those of combination therapy, as reflected in the peer-reviewed literature.

CONCLUSIONS: Patients should use NLO or ELC for 5 minutes following eye drop treatment with topically applied glaucoma medications. Furthermore, it is essential that these techniques be included in all clinical studies of topically applied glaucoma medications to ensure the most favorable therapeutic index and its accurate determination. This will also help provide the most consistent, reliable, and reproducible study results."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/19277229/#fftPMID

19277229 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

PMCID

PMC2646444

Treating Nocturnal Lagophthalmos with the Tarsus Eyelid Patch

If you suffer from chronic corneal epithelial defects resulting in embryonic tissue graphs, or cornea damage that require cornea transplants? Your defects, and or cornea damage, may be a result of nocturnal Lagophthalmos? Ask your doctor, and request to try wearing the Tarsus Eyelid Patch for comfortable, effective eye closure, while you sleep. The device and method address the insufficient nocturnal eyelid closure, which subsequently causes exposure keratopathy and cornea damage. (the symptoms)

Nocturnal lagophthalmos is the inability to close the eyelids during sleep. Lagophthalmos is the inability to close the eyelids completely. Blinking covers the eye with a thin layer of tear fluid, thereby promoting a moist environment necessary for the cells of the exterior part of the eye. The tears also flush out foreign bodies and wash them away. Lagophthalmos is associated with exposure keratopathy, poor sleep, and persistent exposure-related symptoms.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagophthalmos)

Untreated lagophthalmos leaves your eyes vulnerable to scratches and other injuries because they aren't protected by your eyelids. Exposure keratopathy can eventually cause your cornea, the clear front part of your eye, to either swell or thin. It can also cause a corneal ulcer. (Sep 26, 2017 www.healthline.com › health › eyelid-disorders › lagophthalmos)

The diagnosis is easily missed in subjects having nocturnal lagophthalmos with normal voluntary eyelid closure (idiopathic). A diagnosis of such cases can usually be made from a detailed history and careful slit lamp examination. A focused clinical evaluation for lagophthalmos in patients complaining of redness, dryness or eye irritation, especially after sleep, will identify most cases. The optimal treatment usually depends on the cause of lagophthalmos. It may include topical agents, lid taping at night or ocular surgery to correct lid malpositioning. (International Journal of Gerontology Volume 3, Issue 2, June 2009, Pages 89-95. Nocturnal Lagophthalmos)

A variety of things can cause lagophthalmos, but they mostly fall within two categories.

The first is damage to the seventh cranial nerve, which controls the muscles in your eyelid. This is also known as the facial nerve. Many things can cause damage to the facial nerve, including:

• injury, either from blunt trauma or a deep cut
• stroke
• Bell’s palsy
• tumors, especially acoustic neuromas
• Möbius syndrome
• autoimmune conditions, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome

The second group of causes involves damaged eyelids, which can result from the following:

• scarring from burns, injuries, or certain medical conditions, such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome
• eyelid surgery
• floppy eyelid syndrome

Protruding and sunken eyes can also lead to lagophthalmos.

(https://www.healthline.com/health/eyelid-disorders/lagophthalmos)

* Herpes zoster ophthalmic

• Infections such as herpes zoster (shingles) can cause contraction and ectropion of the eyelid.[eyelids.net]