OcuSense marks commercial launch of new tear testing system

OcuSense has marked the official commercial launch of its TearLab Osmolarity System, a system that measures and monitors tear osmolarity to diagnose dry eye disease.

The TearLab system determines osmolarity through the measurement of electrical impedance of tear samples. The System is comprised of three individual components - the TearLab Osmolarity Test Card, the TearLab Reader and the TearLab Pen.

The test requires only 0.05 µL tear film samples, takes about 30 seconds from start to finish, and can be performed by a technician. Once the tears are collected, the pen is docked into the TearLab Reader to provide the osmolarity reading. The "lab-on-a-chip" approach used by the device mitigates the risk of evaporation from altering the osmolarity of the tear sample, an issue that is of particular concern with techniques involving small tear samples.

The TearLab system is now widely available in Europe; it is anticipated to launch in the US sometime during 2009.